Viva La Arianna?
by You-Can't-Catch-Me
Summary: Over eleven years have passed since the end of "Teenage Stupidity...". Arianna, once a quiet, intellectual child, has grown up to be mean and rebellious. But when she runs away from home and unexpected news, she gets a lot more than she expected.
1. Introduction

**A warning: if you have not read "Teenage Stupidity With a Trace of Hormones", you will_not get this story at all!_ So if you haven't read that and think this looks interesting, go read that story NOW.**

"Arianna," a high pitched voice said. I stirred, but chose not to open my eyes. Then, someone started shaking me. I chose not to respond that time, either. "Arianna!" I felt someone get on top of me, and start jumping up and down. "_A-ri-an-na!_" That time, due to intense pain, I opened my eyes.

"Jeez, Zoe!" I shouted, sitting up. "What do you want?"

Zoe, my six-year-old sister, was standing right next to my bed, pouting with her arms crossed.

"It's time for school," she replied to my previous question. "And you're mean."

"I'm _not _mean," I replied. "You're the one who started jumping on me."

"Uh-uh!" Zoe protested. "Meanie! Meanie!" She stuck out her tongue, spit right in my face, and skipped off, probably to tell Mom how "mean" I was.

"Gross," I muttered, wiping the spit off my face. Although Zoe had given me a rude awakening, I figured it was best to get out of bed and get ready for school. I got dressed, and went downstairs to see that, as usual, just about everyone in my entire family was having breakfast.

At the head of the table was my maternal grandfather, Grandpa Kyle. He really wasn't that old, only about fifty-two years old. My maternal grandmother, Grandma Mana, was seated to the right of him. She was only fifty years old. My parents had me as teenagers, so that kind of explained why they were so young for grandparents. Grandma Mana was a teacher, although I hadn't had her for class in years, since she mainly worked with the younger kids.

Sitting next to Grandma Mana was Mom, and next to her was Dad. They were both only thirty-two years old. Dad was a teacher at my school, but I hadn't had him for class in years, either. He worked with the kids between the group that Grandma Mana worked with, and the group my Grandpa Barrett worked with. For some reason, I didn't look like him at all. I always liked him, as we both shared a fondness for music. I took more after Mom, at both physically and emotionally. We both had the same red-brown hair and fiery temper. Because of that last trait, we didn't get along very well.

To the right of Dad were my uncle and aunt, who I just called Aaron and Leann. Mom and Aaron were twins, so they looked almost exactly alike, with the same hair and the same brown eyes. Leann was the complete opposite in terms of appearance. She had beautiful hair and eyes, and skin like a porcelain doll. Unfortunately, she wasn't very smart, and often embarrassed Aaron.

On the subject of Aaron and Leann, sitting in order of age were my three cousins, Lily, also known as Lillian, Flora, and Julian, aged fifteen, fourteen, and nine. Lily was closest to my age, only about two months younger, but we didn't get along too well. She was a goody-two shoes who always followed rules, and I was just the opposite, as well as the fact that she was sweet and benevolent, and I came off as mean and cold to just about everyone. And she was absolutely gorgeous. The only thing that made her the least bit enjoyable for me to be around was that she was dumb as a bag of hammers, and said stupid things all the time. Flora, I could tolerate a little more. She was active all the time, and insulted anyone, just because she felt like it. She favored the de Sainte-Coquille family in terms of appearance, looking exactly like her maternal grandfather, Max. Julian, on the other hand, was a "good kid" like Lily, but quieter and less obnoxious. He usually kept to himself, and always had a book in his hand. I liked him the best out of all my cousins. He was already very sweet and chivalrous, and he was adorable. He looked exactly like Aaron.

Then, there was my twin brother, Tristan, seated to the right of Julian. He was the only one at the table who was actually eating, and man, did he eat. He was of average height and weight for his age, but I was almost certain most of his weight was comprised of muscles that, for some reason, didn't show up. I was almost certain that he was addicted to food. He was always really polite around family, but whenever he so much as heard a phrase such as "group from a girls' school in the city staying at the inn" or, "women's choir singing in the chapel today", or anything like that, he would drop whatever he was doing, demand to know where the "chicks" were, and ask if they were hot. It was all for show, though. I mean, he _did _like girls, but I knew for a fact that he was a hopeless romantic, and that he cared for his family more than anything in the world. He was overprotective of me to the point where it was annoying. We also looked exactly alike, aside from the fact that he was a guy and I was a girl. Another thing he kept hidden was that like Grandpa Kyle, he was an amazing artist. Even his simplest drawings were amazing, and for some reason, he only showed his artwork to me, due to his fear of rejection.

Next to Tristan was Gerard, the daydreamer of the family. His favorite pastimes were writing and making up stories. He was incredibly advanced in both areas, even though he was only twelve years old. Sadly, he used his storytelling abilities most of the time for getting out of sticky situations, such as not paying attention in class. He had black hair and dark blue eyes, so his most frequently asked question was, "Mom, am I adopted?", to which Mom always replied, "Yeah, let's go with that. We got you from the moon, and that's why you look exactly like your grandmother." Gerard always laughed at that, and went back to playing with his easel or something.

Sitting in a normal sized chair, but on top of a stack of books, was the youngest and most interesting of all my siblings, Zoe. She was a spitting image of Dad, or at least she looked like what Mom told me Dad used to look like when he was six. She had golden hair, baby blue eyes, and freckles on her nose and cheeks. One might think from looking at her that she was an angel, but that person would be dead wrong. Anyone familiar with Zoe knew that she was an annoying, temper tantrum throwing tattletale. She was the devil trapped inside the body of a six-year-old. Her favorite game to play with other kids was, "I'm a princess, so be my servants and give me what I want or I'll scream and say you hit me." That wasn't the game's real name, but that was basically what it consisted of.

Finally, there was me, Arianna. According to other people, I was smart, pessimistic, rebellious, asthmatic, or mean. I didn't consider myself as any of those, except maybe for asthmatic, but for all I knew, they could have been right. As I mentioned before, I had red hair like Mom, but for some reason, I had blue-green eyes and pointed ears. Mom had explained to me that I had some elvish ancestors. I always dressed differently than other people my age, and my hair was always a mess, but I liked it that way. People also called me a musical prodigy, which I didn't get at all. I only played piano and sang, which I assumed I got from my Dad.

Little did I know what sorts of adventures I would have, in the _very _near future.

I sat down in the only empty seat at the table, which was in between Grandpa Kyle and Zoe.

"Look who finally got out of bed," Lily said to me.

"I stayed up all night doing homework," I replied. I lowered my voice so it was barely audible. "Unlike you."

"Arianna said something mean!" Zoe immediately cried. "She said 'unlike you'!" Leann gave Mom a worried look.

"Zoe!" Gerard shouted. "Don't tell on people just because you feel like it."

"Okay, okay," Mom said. "Let's keep the shouting down. Arianna, eat." She pointed to my plate. I rolled my eyes, picked up my fork, and started to eat.

"Back to the work thing," Dad said, obviously trying to change the subject. "You know, you guys have got to speak up if the workload is too heavy. We're not trying to give you gray hair as teenagers."

"It's fine, Dad," I replied. "I can take it." I started coughing, and what had started as a little cough gradually grew harder to control.

"Doesn't sound like it," Grandpa Kyle muttered.

"I'm fine," I replied, once the cough had died down. I drank from my cup of orange juice just in case I started coughing again.

Mom looked over at Tristan.

"Did you seriously just eat all five of those pancakes?" she asked him.

"Yeah," he replied. I could tell he still had food in his mouth.

"Jeez!" Flora exclaimed. "Save some for the rest of us, fatass!"

"Watch your language, Flora," Aaron said. "Little pitchers." Lily looked at a pitcher of water on the table with a confused expression, shrugged, and went back to picking at her food. I suppressed laughter. When Aaron said "little pitchers", he was actually referring to the ears of Gerard, Julian, and Zoe.

"I'm not fat," Tristan said to Flora. "If I was, I wouldn't have ladies flocking to me like I do."

"Even _I _don't lie that much," Gerard muttered, shaking his head.

"Yeah," Flora added. "The little paint chip has a point. The only girl who won't leave you alone is a total geek!" She was referring to Sammy, one of the three other kids at school who weren't in our family. And she _was _a total geek.

"I just don't understand," Grandma Mana said.

"What don't you understand?" Flora asked.

"Why you kids have to be so mean to each other all the time," Grandma Mana replied. "Is that really necessary?"

"Well," Flora muttered. "It's not like anyone's going to tell her about this conversation." Zoe's face lit up. "Don't even think about it, princess. The only throne _you _have control over is the porcelain one." Lily looked at her with a confused expression, and Flora noticed. "The _crapper_."

"Flora," Aaron said, putting his fork down. "If I have to tell you one more time to-"

"Okay!" Flora interrupted, putting her hands up. "Christ on a bike, Dad, you don't need to lose your mind!" Aaron continued eating, as if satisfied with that response.

I tried to finish up my breakfast as quickly as I could before it was time to leave for school, but I was unsuccessful.

"Everyone ready?" Dad asked. Everyone gave some sort of response, except for me. "Okay, then, let's go."

"I'll wash the dishes," Mom said, getting up. As Dad started to leave, she caught him by the arm, and kissed him. "Bye, Lee."

There was a pile of backpacks by the front door of the house, but I always knew which mine was, because it was the most worn-out. It was almost as if our backpacks reflected our personalities, Lily's was perfectly organized and didn't have a speck of dirt on it, Zoe's was bright pink and had flowers drawn by Gerard on it, Tristan's was always filled with drawings, et cetera.

"All right," Grandma Mana said after all the backpacks had been snatched up. "Let's go."

We started off to school, and unfortunately, I had no idea how much trouble I was going to get into that day.

**First chapter! *Hoots and hollers***

**Agh...so many characters to keep track of! And there will be even more. My head's going to explode...**

**So yeah. These first couple of chapters are mainly going to deal with the fact that Arianna is a nasty, troublemaking bitch. I kind of tried to make her almost like a mixture of Bianca (yes, I know she's not in this game) and Orland. Wait until the next chapter. You're going to hate her even more. But she's really a good person! I promise. And as you can probably tell, she and Tristan know absolutely nothing about how they came to be.  
**

**Let's see. I have a nasty cold. Yeah. That's about it.  
**


	2. Whiskey Shots and Cheap Cigarettes

The shortcut to school was always an easy trip. It was near the end of summer, so it was fairly warm still. I always walked quickly, up at the front with Dad, but that day, Tristan came up to me with a paper in his hand.

"A new one?" I asked. "Let's see."

"Keep it down," he whispered. "And get in front of me, and walk backwards. That way, nobody can see."

"_That_ won't look conspicuous at all," I replied.

"Do you want to see it or not?" he asked. I sighed, quickened my pace so I could get in front of him, and turned around.

"That's awesome, Tristan," I said, trying not to sound too excited. If I did, the younger kids would come running, wanting to see it.

"You don't know what it is?" he asked, sounding a little disappointed.

"I never said that," I replied. "Don't just assume things. You know what Grandpa Kyle says: 'Don't assume. It'll make-'"

"I know, I know," Tristan replied. "'Don't assume. It'll make an ass out of you and me'. I know the drill. But you didn't answer the question."

"It's our house," I said. "And it's really good. Why don't you show this stuff to anyone?"

"Because I don't want people to think I'm a pansy," he replied.

"You _are _a pansy," I replied, turning around.

"Julian!" I heard Flora shout from behind me. "Quit picking flowers! You're slowing us down."

"They're for Mommy," Julian protested. "She likes it when I give her flowers. She says I'm a gentleman."

"Whatever," Flora replied. "You're just a wimpy little mama's boy."

"They're my flowers now," Zoe declared.

"Give those back!" Julian cried. "I already said they're for my mom!"

_Of course Lily's not doing shit, _I thought.

"Hey, kids," Dad finally said, turning his head around. "Zoe, give the flowers back to Julian."

"No!" Zoe replied. "Finders keepers!"

"You didn't find them," Gerard pointed out. "You stole them."

"Yeah!" Julian added.

"You guys are all stupid!" Zoe shouted. At that point, Dad turned around, probably to give Zoe a lecture on why you shouldn't call people stupid.

"You go ahead with your grandmother," Dad said. "I'll stay behind with Zoe and Julian."

"Okay," Tristan replied. I just nodded, and went ahead.

In a short amount of time, we reached school.

"I guess I'm just going to have Mikey for class right now," Grandma Mana said with a laugh. "Hopefully Julian and Zoe will quit fighting soon." We went inside the school building.

I went into the main classroom, where my teacher and paternal grandfather, Grandpa Barrett, was waiting, with the one other kid in our class, Alex. He was the oldest of the three other kids at school, being fourteen years old. His thirteen-year-old sister Sammy was in the section Dad taught, and their younger brother Mikey was in Zoe and Julian's class with Grandma Mana.

"Late again?" Grandpa Barrett asked.

"Sorry, Barrett," Grandma Mana replied. "We had a little spat between Zoe and Julian along the way. Leonel might be in a little late, since he's dealing with them."

"All right," Grandpa Barrett said. "Tristan, Arianna, Lily, and Flora, you can take your seats."

"Let's go on to class now," Grandma Mana said to Gerard. They walked toward the library, where the youngest group and the middle group had class.

The four of us sat down, and I sat in the back, knowing Grandpa Barrett and I were going to go through the usual drill. But it was worth a try.

_Maybe he won't notice today,_ I thought.

"Arianna," he said. "There's an empty close to the front, you know."

"I know," I replied.

"Would you mind moving up there?" he asked. I could tell he was already getting annoyed.

"Would I mind?" I repeated.

"Move up there," he said sternly. "I don't want to have to have to talk to your parents again."

"You already talk to them," I replied.

"Arianna, I'm not going to ask you again," he said, this time even more stern. I thought for a second.

"Fine," I muttered, picking up my backpack, and moving to the front of the room.

"Thank you," Grandpa Barrett said. "Now we can begin." He paused, and took out a stack of papers. Everybody groaned, knowing exactly what was going on. "That's right. We're having a pop quiz today. Everyone, take out a pencil and put your books on the floor." I contributed to the sudden sound of books being dropped on the floor, and rummaged through my backpack for a pencil. Luckily, I was able to find one.

Grandpa Barrett started to pass out the small sheets of paper. I was one of the first people to get one, since I had been forced to move to the front.

"You may start," he said finally.

It was a three-question quiz, with two multiple choice and one blank space, which I thought was a recipe for failing, especially since I _hadn't _actually studied the night before. I looked at the first question: "Name the third ingredient used in making a poison spear."

_What the hell? _I wondered. _Does it even matter what order you put the ingredients in?_ I filled in the circle next to "gunpowder", and looked at the next question: "From what monster can you find a proof of warrior?"

_That's not even relevant to what we've been doing in class, _I thought. I filled in the circle for "goblin pirate", and moved on. The next question was one I thought I knew: "What tool in the workshop would you use to make a recovery potion?" I wrote down "the kitchen". I waited at my desk for a while.

"Time's up," Barrett said. "Each of you, pass your quiz to the person next to you." There was an odd number, so Tristan, Alex, and I ended up passing three ways. I got Tristan's, and unfortunately, Alex got mine. I had a huge problem with Alex; he annoyed the crap out of me, and liked to make fun of my bad grades. But I knew I was way smarter than him, so I tried not to let him bother me, "tried" being the key word.

As Grandpa Barrett read off the answers, I realized I had gotten _nothing _right on the quiz, and to make things worse, Alex had to raise his hand.

"Excuse me, Barrett," he said, once he was called on. "How do you mark a paper with all wrong answers?"

"You mark them wrong," Grandpa Barrett replied, starting to look irritated.

"I know," Alex replied. "But I can't figure out whether to write 'dumbass' or 'screwup'." I felt embarrassed, even though I shouldn't have. Lily laughed, and Tristan made fists.

"Your face is going to be screwed up if you don't stop it," he said to Alex. As if the whole thing wasn't embarrassing enough, Tristan's overprotection made me want to crawl under my desk.

"That's _enough_," Grandpa Barrett stated. "Alex, you need to stop harassing other people, and Tristan, you need to control your anger. Now, can we move on with class?"

We moved on with class, even though he got no response out of us on that subject. When it was finally time for lunch, I tried my best to hurry out the door as quickly as I could, but my plan to escape was thwarted.

"Arianna," Grandpa Barrett said. "You can stay here for now." I stopped dead in my tracks, and turned on my heels without a word. I started to walk toward his desk, and we waited until the last person was out of the room.

"What is it _this _time?" I asked, sitting down.

"Don't give me that," Grandpa Barrett said. "You were incredibly disrespectful, and you failed a basic quiz. All in one class." He sighed. "Arianna, I've known you for quite some time, which I'm sure you're aware of, and I _know _you're sma-"

"Don't say that word," I said, crossing my arms. "I'm sick of hearing people say that about me. It's not true."

"You learned how to spell when you were four," he said.

"What's your point?" I asked.

"That's another thing," he said. "Every word that comes out of your mouth is disrespectful or insulting. Your parents raised you better than that. I'm sure of it."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"Look, Arianna," he said, sighing. "I may be your grandfather, and I'd love to spend time with you any other way, but I don't have time for _this_. If you keep this up, you're going to have to spend extra time outside of school making up homework and retaking quizzes. And that's final." He paused. "You may go out to lunch now." Without a word, I picked up my backpack and went outside.

Tristan, as usual, was fighting off Sammy. She was thirteen, annoying, and a total dork.

"I'm _not _going out with you!" he was saying. "Why don't you chase after someone your own age?"

"Because I _love _you!" she replied. "Besides, what's three years?"

"Hey," I said. "Sammy, why don't you leave my brother alone and go do some math problems or something?" She frowned.

"Why don't you go check the weather, overcoat girl?" she replied. She was referring to the long jacket I almost always wore. I had started wearing it about a year before, when I started wanting to dress the way I wanted, which Mom said was "too revealing". As a result, I started wearing the jacket, so I could mock Mom and dress the way I wanted underneath. Surprisingly enough, she didn't make fun of the hat I always wore. I had formed an attachment to an old hat of Dad's when I was little, so my Grandma Dorothy made me a similar one later on, after the original became worn and unsightly.

"I don't think I'll ever recover from that," I said. "Seriously, leave my brother alone, or I'll tell my dad you're acting like an idiot. Maybe he'll give you a detention, if you're lucky." Sammy let out a little "hmph!" and walked off to join her brothers.

"Thanks for that," Tristan said.

"Yeah," I replied. "And thanks for making me look like a defenseless little wimp."

"You needed that!" he protested.

"No, I didn't," I replied.

"Well, you _are _asthmatic," he pointed out.

"What?" I asked. "Do you think I'm going to stop breathing because I'm being humiliated?"

"It could make you hyperventilate," he said, shrugging.

"God," I muttered. "Let's just drop it."

"All right," he said. "I'm hungry anyway." We sat down under one of the cherry trees in front of school, joining Flora and Lily.

"What did you get in trouble for?" Lily asked me, taking a bite of one of her perfectly cut cucumber sandwiches.

"First of all," I said, opening up my lunch. "Shut up and leave me alone. Second of all, shut the hell up and leave me alone. Third of all, S-H-U-T T-H-E H-"

"All right!" Lily cried. "I was just asking. You don't have to be so rude!"

"It's in my nature," I muttered.

Zoe came skipping up to us with her backpack.

"Arianna got in trouble!" she announced in a sing-song voice.

"How'd you even find that out?" I asked.

"I was listening outside the door," she replied. "You're going to have to spend extra time at school! And you're rude!" She stuck out her tongue, turned around, and skipped away.

"Thanks, Zoe," I muttered.

"Is that true?" Flora asked. I sighed, and gave in.

"Grandpa Barrett says," I began. I took a bite from my peanut butter and jelly sandwich. "That if I fail any more assignments, I'll have to start spending extra time at school doing work. He also claims that I'm rude."

"Well," Lily said. "You _are _rude."

"Didn't I ask you to shut up?" I asked.

"I agree with Lily," Tristan said. "I don't know where you got this 'I'm a jerk' thing."

"I need a drink right now," I muttered. "But I don't drink, so don't jump all over me." That last statement was a total lie.

I spent the rest of lunch listening to conversations, but not participating. When we had to go back to class, I felt miserable. When Grandpa Barrett asked us to open up our books, I interrupted him before he could even get to the page number.

"Can I go see Ray?" I asked, holding my stomach. "I have a really bad stomachache." He looked suspiciously at me, but I was a great actor, and I hadn't used the upset stomach thing in a long time.

"Fine," he said. I got up from my desk, grabbed my backpack, and ran, while faking a limp.

Obviously, I didn't feel sick at all, but the truth was, I had an addiction that required my attention. I had been cranky all day due to it, and I was starting to get restless. I ran behind school where the outhouses were.

I started immediately looking for my stash, but I was having trouble.

"Dammit," I muttered, sorting through the bush where I normally hid everything. "Where the hell are they?" I heard something crunch beneath my feet, and realized that in my state of frenzy, I had knocked my cigarette case on the ground, and stepped on it. I sighed, picked it up, and started looking for my other stash, which I hid in a hole that I had placed a rock over. Luckily, the quarter-full bottle of whiskey was still there. I smiled, and snatched up the bottle, then rummaged through my backpack to find my matches, which I was also successful in finding. I took a swig of the whiskey, and relaxed. But what I _really_ needed were the cigarettes. I lit up, and started smoking. I had started when I was thirteen, and I had no intention of quitting. The drinking had started even younger, when I started to become more than a little fond of church wine. I had managed to get the stronger stuff and the cigarettes from my great grandpa Douglas' store, claiming they were for Mom. Of course, he was so old then that he didn't ask any questions, and I figured he never bugged Mom about it.

I stood outside there for what seemed like an eternity, until I had smoked almost every cigarette in my case and I only had a little whiskey left. Eventually, I figured it would be about time to go home, so I went out to the front of the school.

**Bad Arianna! *Sprays with spray bottle***

**Well, I'm not having trouble writing. The issue is that I'm kind of writing indefinitely and I'm having trouble dividing up the chapters.**

**Oh, and I can has baby sister now. As of today. But I'm not dedicating this chapter to her, because she's a cute little baby and this chapter's about an angsty teenager. Maybe I'll write a oneshot or something. Actually, I probably will. But don't fear! I'll update this chapter soon!  
**


	3. Full Throttle Screaming

My timing was perfect, because just as I got to the front of the school, the school door opened, and everyone began to leave.

"What are you doing back so early?" Tristan asked.

"I felt better," I replied. "I was there for about three hours, after all."

"Hey, guys," Dad said from behind us. We both turned. "I've got to wait for the little ones. You all can go ahead home."

"Thanks, Dad," Tristan replied. We started to walk home.

When we got home, I came to a sudden realization.

_Oh shit, _I thought. _I forgot my backpack!_ I wasn't sure what to do. On one hand, I needed it for school if I wanted to get good enough grades so I didn't have to take extra lessons outside of school, but on the other hand, going back out there would make me look suspicious.

Mom was chatting with Leann, while they cooked an afternoon snack for everyone.

_She's reasonably distracted, _I thought. I started to tiptoe toward the stairs, and Tristan gave me a confused look. I signed for him to be quiet, and continued moving toward the stairs. But when I was just a tiny bit away from the first step, the front door opened.

"Don't even think about escaping, Arianna," Dad said. "We have a little business to discuss." Mom and Leann turned around, surprised.

"Escape from what?" Mom asked.

"Nothing," I replied, turning around and scowling at her.

"Arianna failed a three-point quiz today," Dad said. "And she was incredibly disrespectful to her grandfather, who says she has become so irresponsible with her schoolwork that she may need to spend some extra time making up the work."

"I…think I'll go outside with the little ones," Leann said. She darted out the door, obviously not wanting to be part of the situation.

"Is that true?" Mom asked, once the door had closed.

"Maybe it is," I replied. "Maybe it isn't."

"Don't try being a smartass now," Tristan said. "You're going to be in some pretty deep shit already."

"You can go outside as well," Mom said to him. "Unless you have something useful to say."

"O-Okay," he stammered. He was a total mama's boy, and always did what Mom asked of him. He went outside.

"God, Arianna," Mom said, continuing with her rant. "How have you been failing? You said just this morning that you stayed up all last night doing homework!" I stayed silent. "Oh, _now _you're going to be quiet?"

"It's none of your business," I stated.

"It _is _our business," Dad argued. "You're wasting your time at school doing God knows what, and you're way too smart for that!"

"What have you even been doing?" Mom asked. I didn't say anything. "If you're not going to answer me, I'm going to go and see your grandfather."

There was a knock at the door. I couldn't have asked for better timing…or so I thought.

"It's open," Mom called. Unfortunately, Grandpa Barrett was the one to open it. "Hi. I'm really sorry about tod-"

"I've got more news on _that_ subject," he interrupted. "We found out today when I was tutoring Alex. Would you like me to bring in what he found?"

"If it's related to Arianna," Dad said. "You probably should."

Grandpa Barrett had his backpack that he carried his teaching supplies in, and that was normal. But for some reason, it looked fuller than it usually did. And he had my backpack. I was pretty sure about what was coming next.

"Like I mentioned earlier," he said setting the items on the table. "I was tutoring Alex, but only for a short amount of time. He told me he had to go use the outhouse, and I let him, of course. But when he came back, he showed me that he had found this." He pulled my cigarette case out of the bag. "And this." He took out my empty bottle of whiskey. "And this." He indicated to my backpack.

"Oh my God," Dad said, in complete shock.

"I think it's kind of obvious by now who the culprit is," Grandpa Barrett finished. Mom and Dad turned around to look at me, both looking royally pissed off.

_Oh…shit, _I thought. For once in my life, I was actually scared of the consequences that would follow.

"You've…been…_smoking?_" Mom declared, her tone of voice going from cold fury to raw anger.

"Yeah," I replied, trying to stay calm. "I guess I don't understand the iss-"

"Don't give us that kind of bullcrap!" Dad shouted. "You are an _asthmatic! _You could _die _from that, god damn it!"

"We already came close to losing you _once!_" Mom declared. "We don't want that to happen again!"

"And what's up with the drinking?!" Dad demanded. "How long did it take you to get through that entire bottle of whiskey?"

"A couple days," I replied. "And that's not the first time, either. I've also been smoking for about two years, since you guys need to know everything about my life."

"Well," Mom said, crossing her arms. "If knowing everything about your life means knowing how _stupid _you've been with it, then I'd say we need to know!"

"You're calling _me _stupid?" I protested. "Well, at least I'm not screwing around like _someone _was at my age."

Mom's expression turned angrier than I'd ever seen. I could tell that I had totally stepped over a line, clearly stating "do not cross". We had _never _gone into that sort of territory, even while fighting.

"Go to your room," she said, obviously trying not to lose it.

"What's that?" I asked mockingly. "Someone's a little upset that someone's finally told her the truth?"

"You don't even know the half of it," Dad said, also looking angrier than I'd ever seen.

"If you don't get up those stairs-" Mom started to say, but as I sneered at her, she cut herself off. "_Now, Arianna!_"

"Fine, dammit!" I shouted right back. I stomped up the stairs, and to my room. "_I hate you!_" I slammed the door so hard that some of the paint on it fell off.

For some reason, I started to cry. I didn't exactly know why. It could have been a combination of any number of things. I eventually was able to stop crying, and went back to being mad. I did everything in the book: I punched and kicked the side of my bed, screamed into a pillow, you name it. Even so, I still found that my heart was beating fast, and I was breathing deeply through gritted teeth. After quite a bit of that, I realized I had tired myself out, due to a bad coughing fit. I sat down on my bed, and stared at the wall.

**Okay, so this chapter was short, and the ending was crappy, but hey, at least we're getting closer to the actual plot! XD**

**What a bad child she is! The next chapter is where it gets interesting. I mean, more interesting. You get the idea.  
**


	4. A Landscape of a Lie

God knows how long I was up there, staring at that blank wall, wishing I could burn a hole in it with my eyes. I was so angry, I could only sort of hear the yelling that was coming from downstairs. After some time, there was a knock at my door. I didn't answer, but the door opened anyway.

"Hey," Tristan said from behind me. I turned sharply.

"You going to tell me I'm stupid too?" I demanded.

"That's not why I'm here," he replied. "Although, what you did _was _pretty-"

"Keep the comments to yourself," I muttered. "What do you want?"

"Mom and Dad want to see you," he said.

"Wonderful," I said.

"They said it's really important," he replied.

"Fine," I muttered. "Where are they?"

"The piano room," he replied.

"Huh," I said, getting off my bed. "At least that's some comfort."

We started to walk down the stairs to the piano room, which was right behind the main room of the house. I realized then that it had also gotten dark.

_Time flies when you're having fun, _I thought sarcastically.

Mom and Dad were sitting on a loveseat at the back of the room, and they had moved two chairs across from them. As Tristan and I came nearer, I noticed that Mom looked like she had been crying.

"Sit down," Dad said. "Both of you." Tristan looked shocked.

"Me?" he asked. "What did I-"

"Just sit," Mom said with a heavy sigh. We sat.

It was a little awkward at first.

"Did you call us here so we could just stare at each other?" I asked.

"We've got some news for you that's tough even for us," Dad replied. "Have some understanding."

"Oh God," Tristan said. "Don't send Arianna away! She can get better, I know she can! She just-"

"We're _not _sending anyone away," Mom said. She took a deep breath. "We thought you two should know this, since Arianna brought it up this afternoon." Tristan and I looked at each other. I honestly didn't know what she was talking about. "You know, the fact that I had you when I was sixteen years old."

"Oh, yeah," Tristan said.

"Why don't we just tell them?" Dad asked. He sounded a little choked up. He looked straight at us. "I'm not your father."

I just about fell out of my chair. Sure, I had known all my life that I didn't look like him at all, but I had never even considered that he wasn't my real dad!

"W-What do you mean?" Tristan asked.

"He shouldn't have said it like that," Mom said, getting a little teary-eyed as well. "He's been more of a father to you than your biological father ever was."

"I spiked the punch at a party at Leann's," Dad said. "Your biological father had bribed me to do it. I was so stupid."

"Lily was conceived on that same night," Mom said, looking down at the floor. She suddenly looked up at us. "I don't regret for a minute what I did, though. I really believe that-"

"Are you trying to tell me," I interrupted. "That we're just some messed up, unwanted _accident_?"

"You shouldn't think of it like that," Mom said. "The reason I don't regret what happened is because…otherwise, I wouldn't have you two."

I looked over at Tristan. His hands were shaking, and I could tell he was trying hard not to break down. I was feeling the same way, except I was probably angrier than he was.

"We wanted you to know," Dad said. "That no matter what you do or say, I still love you like any father would."

"What's his name?" Tristan asked, his voice sounding weak. "What's…our biological father's name?"

"I don't feel comfortable telling you that," Mom said. "Other than that Cecilia and Jake are your biological grandparents."

"Cecilia and Jake?" I asked, feeling completely astonished, but still trying not to cry. "They have a son?"

"It's really complicated," Mom said.

"Do…do…we…?" Tristan asked, actually starting to cry. I was shocked; I hadn't seen him cry like that since we were little.

"Oh, sweetheart," Mom said, running to his side. "I know it's hard." He seemed to calm down a little bit.

"Do we…look like him?" he finally asked.

"A little," Mom admitted. "You both have his ears and eyes." I brought my trembling hands up to my ears. It all made sense; Cecilia and Jake were elves.

"Was he…a musician?" I asked.

"No," Mom replied. "He wasn't."

"Where do I get that, then?" I asked.

"We're not sure," Dad replied, leaning across toward me. He got a handkerchief out of his pocket. "We think it may have been something that happened when you were a ba-" As he offered me the handkerchief, I backed away and looked in the opposite direction.

"Stop it," I said coldly. "I don't need your pity." I looked at Mom. "From either of you."

"Arianna-" Mom started to say.

"Don't try to comfort me!" I shouted. I had reached my boiling point for the second time in one day. "You've been lying to me my entire goddamn _life_! I should be the one comforting _you_!" I stormed out of the room, heading upstairs.

I started my angry routine again, crying in between pillow punches. But I wore myself out after some time, and after calming down, I realized what I needed to do.

Later that night, just after midnight, I crept down the hall into Tristan's room. His door creaked, so I opened it slowly, and walked over to the side of his bed.

"Tristan," I whispered.

"Jesus," he muttered, waking up suddenly. "You scared the crap out of me. What time is it?"

"Keep your voice down!" I hissed. "It's a little past midnight. I had to wait for everyone in the house to fall asleep."

"For what?" he asked groggily.

"We're going to see Cecilia and Jake," I replied. He raised an eyebrow.

"Don't you think it's a _little_ late?" he asked.

"I don't care," I replied. "Get dressed, and then we'll go."

Sneaking out of the house was really interesting, but we made it. We started walking off our property, and into the east side of town. It was raining heavily.

"Why are we doing this again?" he asked.

"Because," I replied. "We need answers. Or I do, at least."

We passed through the park, and into the west end of town.

"I've never been so disappointed in my life," he said. "It feels like all we've heard our entire lives are just-"

"Lies," I finished. "I know." I opened the door to the inn.

Egan, who I guessed was my great grandfather, was standing in the front room, obviously trying not to fall asleep. He woke with a start, and looked confused when he saw us.

"What's going on?" he asked, suddenly looking alert. "Is there something wrong?"

"We need to talk to Cecilia and Jake," I replied.

"Really?" he asked. "Right n-?"

"It's kind of urgent," Tristan said. Egan shrugged, and went up the stairs.

We waited for a while. Finally, Cecilia and Jake, both wearing bathrobes, hurried down the stairs.

"What's the matter?" Cecilia asked. "Is everything all right? Did something happen at home?"

"Well, kind of," Tristan replied. "It's really-"

"We need to know about your son," I said, cutting him off. Cecilia's expression slowly changed from confused to astonished. Jake looked about the same.

"Why…would you need to know something like that?" Cecilia asked.

"Because we know the truth," I replied. Egan quickly went upstairs, obviously not wanting to participate in the conversation.

After a few minutes of staring, Jake spoke.

"I think I need to sit down for this one," he said.

"I think we all will," Cecilia said. She turned to us. "Come, sit." We walked into a nearby room with a few chairs arranged in a circle, with a small coffee table in the middle.

We sat down.

"Does your mother want you to know this?" Cecilia asked.

"No," Tristan replied.

"That Aria," Jake muttered. "You kids have the right to know." He paused. "His name's Orland, and he's a damned idiot if you ask me."

"Jake," Cecilia said softly. She turned back to us. "I always thought he was a good boy deep down…"

"Until about twelve years ago," Jake corrected.

"He was a good child," Cecilia said. "A bit antisocial, and rude at times, but he was smart, quiet, and didn't get into much trouble."

"And then," Jake said. "He grew up."

"I imagine Aria told you about how you came to be," Cecilia said. I nodded. "Well, that's when we started to realize that maybe something was wrong."

"And then he cheated on his wife for her twin sister," Jake stated bluntly. "Both were Rosalind and Ray's daughters. Sera, the one he was married to, disappeared after she caught them in the act."

"We're ashamed to this very day," Cecilia continued. "He was our only child, but we've been embarrassed by him, even in his absence, for over twelve years."

"We disinherited him," Jake said. "And told him and his cheap whore of a mistress to get out of town."

"Which he did," Cecilia pointed out.

"And that was the only time he did something right," Jake said, shaking his head.

"Do you know where he is now?" Tristan asked.

"Ten years ago," Cecilia said. "We heard he lives just on the outskirts of a town called Trampoli. I wouldn't advise you to go looking for him, though."

"Why not?" I asked.

"Because he didn't even care that you existed," Jake said with a sigh. "From the start, he didn't want anything to do with you."

"That's comforting," I muttered.

"But you _do _have a father that loves you," Cecilia added. "I'd say he's your father more than Orland is."

"Well-" I started to say.

"Arianna," Cecilia said calmly. "You're probably feeling emotionally conflicted about Leonel, but I know you too well. You're a headstrong girl who likes to argue, and I know better than to pick a fight with you."

"She's just like him," Jake muttered. Cecilia shot him a dirty look. "But I'd say she has a conscience. Anyone would have more of a conscience than he does."

"Nice boost for my self-esteem, grandpa," I said.

"Don't call me that," Jake said.

"You kids should probably head home," Cecilia asked. "Do your parents even know you're out?"

"No," Tristan admitted. I smacked him on the arm. "Ow! What did I do?"

"Oh God," Cecilia said. "Get home as soon as possible, then. And I'd appreciate it if you didn't tell your mother where you were."

"Okay," I said. "Thanks, Cecilia."

We left the inn, and went back out into the rain. On the walk home, Tristan and I didn't say a word. But my mind was running, thoughts going through my head at an alarming rate.

I was determined to try and find Orland, whether he wanted to see me or not. If he had left town twelve years ago, maybe I had seen him. I racked my brain for a memory of being three years old, but I didn't have anything, but there was one thing I was sure of, and that was the fact that I was going to run away to find my father.

**Okay, I lied. The _next_ chapter is where the plot really thickens. Or maybe the next. Or the next. It'll be soon, though! I know exactly where this story is going, but I don't quite have it organized. If that makes any sense at all...**

**I need reviews! And I will do anything to get them. FEED ME, SEYMOUR!**

**Anyone who gets that reference will get a cookie. Which you all should.**

**You can totally tell I'm writing this at 1:30 in the morning. XD  
**


	5. From the River

I went to school the next day, but my mind was far from trying to keep up in class. I hadn't told anyone of my plan to find Orland, but I had some information that was crucial to my escape.

I had heard by word of mouth that there would be a boat coming into Alvarna at around ten that night, coming to deliver some food and other rare items from the capital of Norad. I planned to get on it when no one was looking, probably in a big crowd of people, and I would find a good hiding place. From there, the boat would probably make a few other stops overnight, and eventually go back to the capital. I wasn't sure if my plan was going to work, but it would have to.

I had also counted my funds, which I had been saving up since I was little. I had a little over 1500 gold, and a few prizes I had gotten from killing monsters, so I figured I was set in terms of money.

When school was finally out, I darted out of there as quickly as I could. I didn't speak to anybody, and went straight up to my room. The first thing I did was empty out my backpack onto the floor, and put all my money inside an inner pocket. Then, I stuffed it with extra clothing.

"I feel like I'm forgetting something," I said to myself. It dawned on me that I didn't have any food. I cursed under my breath, realizing that I would have to downstairs and make up a lie so I could get some food for my trip. Either that, or I'd just grab some food and run.

Luckily, when I got downstairs, I saw that Leann was in the kitchen.

_Good, _I thought. _She's gullible enough. _I walked up to the refrigerator, and started taking out food, as though it was the most normal thing a person could do.

"Arianna?" she asked. "Where are you going with all that food?"

"I…need it," I said, trying to think of a believable lie.

"What do you need so much for?" Leann asked, obviously starting to get suspicious. She had a right to be; I had grabbed a loaf of bread, a jar of peanut butter, some fruit, and a bottle of milk.

I thought right then of something brilliant.

"I need it so I can quit smoking," I replied. "You see, when someone has an addiction of any kind, they need something else to compensate for it. Something they can use for a distraction. I feel like I need to eat all the time, so that I don't want to smoke again, and so I don't get cranky when my body's telling me I need a cigarette." Leann seemed to contemplate that.

"And…where did you learn all that?" she asked.

"Ray came to our class to talk about drugs and stuff," I replied. That part was true. "A few years ago, anyway. He told us that. You can even ask him."

"Oh, I believe you," Lean said. "I think it's great that you want to get rid of that bad habit. Just make sure you don't eat too much!"

"Thanks," I replied. I grabbed all of the food, and ran up the stairs.

I continued to stuff my backpack, and for a moment, I was afraid that the seams of the old thing were going to break. As I was almost finished with the packing, Tristan barged into my room.

"The door was closed for a reason," I told him, not looking up.

"What's your reason?" he asked. "And what are you doing with your backpack?"

"That's none of your business," I replied.

"Whoa," he said. "Looks like _someone _needs a smoke."

"Stop it," I demanded. "You don't even know how crappy I'm-" I coughed a little, but that turned into one of my extremely long coughing fits.

"Oh God!" he exclaimed. "Are you okay? Do you need me to get-?"

"Just…" I started to say, in between coughs. "Don't…piss me off…so…bad!"

"Your face is turning red," Tristan commented. I coughed a couple more times, and then I was able to calm myself down.

Zoe decided to come skipping into the room.

"Why do people feel the need to come in here all of a sudden?" I asked.

"I heard you coughing," Zoe replied. "By the way, smoking makes you die."

"I'm just going to ignore you until you go away," I muttered.

"Hey!" Zoe said, pointing a finger at my backpack. "You stole food! You're not allowed to steal food!"

"Leann said I could," I replied. Zoe pouted, and crossed her arms.

"Tristan," she said, pointing at him. "I need my royal horse."

"Please don't," Tristan begged. "That wasn't so bad when you were really little!"

"And when it was actually still cute," I added.

"Be my horse, Tristan!" Zoe demanded. "Or I'll tell Mom that you did drawings of naked ladies and hid them under your bed!"

"But I didn't do that!" Tristan protested.

"I know," Zoe replied. "But _Mom _doesn't." Tristan looked incredibly pissed off.

"Fine," he muttered.

"Yay!" Zoe exclaimed, jumping up on my bed, and then onto Tristan's back. "Thank you, big brother!"

"Any time," he said unenthusiastically.

For the next several hours, I constantly checked and double-checked to make sure I had what I needed in my backpack. And then I realized something crucial: I hadn't written a note of any kind. At least that would let them know I hadn't been kidnapped or something, and that they didn't think I was dead if I ever decided to come back.

I grabbed a sheet of paper and a pen from my bedside table, and thought of an idea for a note that would let them know that nothing bad had happened, but something that wouldn't give too much away.

Finally, I wrote something: "I am not dead. - Arianna". It was short, to the point, and enough to let them know I was okay.

I leaned back against the side of my bed, and sighed. I felt like I had been working way too much, and my fingers had a familiar restlessness. It was that I always got when I went too long without playing the piano.

I grabbed my backpack and went downstairs, hoping it wasn't too late. Otherwise, I'd be asked to keep it down, and I'd have to stop playing. I made my way into the piano room, and sat down at the bench.

For a few seconds, I just admired it. I never knew how Mom and Dad were able to buy that piano. They had gotten it when I was too little to remember, but one thing that I could recall was my fascination with it. I would always wonder what it was, and how Dad was able to make music from it. One day, when I was about five, I couldn't contain my curiosity any more, and sat down at that bench, my feet still too small to reach the pedals. I started to bang on those keys like I was never going to be able to do it again. But then, Mom and Dad came in, looking surprised. I thought something was wrong, and that I would get in trouble for what I did. But they just laughed, saying how good it was that I wanted to play the piano. I replied that yes, I wanted to "play like Daddy". Dad started teaching me the next day.

While still thinking of the fond memories, I started to play something energetic and major. But then, I remembered the news I had just been told the previous night. Those people, who had laughed at me and supported me, had been lying to me my whole life. I immediately switched the scale to minor. The song sounded almost like something one would hear in a bar, where people would just drink away their sorrows.

"That's a sad song," someone said from behind me. I jumped, and quickly turned my head. Luckily, it was only Dad.

"You got a problem with that?" I asked, regaining my composure.

"I just don't like to see any of my kids sad," he replied. He sat down next to me on the bench, and started to play a song that was very familiar to me.

The song he played was one that we simply referred to as the Earthmate song. Dad had sung it to us farther back than I could even remember.

"Haven't heard that one in a while," I commented.

"You haven't needed it," he replied, as he stopped playing. He laughed. "I remember, when you and Tristan were little babies, I would sing it to you to get you both to stop crying."

"Huh," I muttered. I looked out the window, and saw that it had gotten dark. "I think I'm going to go outside."

"Outside?" he asked. "What for?"

"I don't know," I replied. "It's actually kind of nice out. I thought I'd take a walk. Get some fresh air, you know?"

"All right," Dad said suspiciously. "I guess you need the air. Just don't be out too late, and don't try to buy any cigarettes. Your great-grandfather will just go straight to me or your mother."

"Okay," I said, picking up my backpack. "See you later."

It was even darker outside than I thought it was when I first looked out the window.

_It has to be close to ten, _I thought. _I'd better hurry._ After I picked up the pace, I got to the docks, and waited.

After what seemed like an eternity, I saw, from far away, the outline of a boat. It quickly got larger and larger, until eventually, it had come into the harbor. Sailors and merchants hurried off the boat with giant crates in their arms, and I knew that was my chance to stow away.

When I was fairly certain that everyone was off the boat, I ran as fast as I could onto it.

"I'm in," I said to myself. I looked around, trying to find a place where I could hide. I had read quite a bit about…well, everything, and I racked my brain for a common place to hide on a boat. "Underneath it."

I started running around, looking for any sign of a door that could lead to under the boat. Finally, I noticed a heavy door that was slightly open.

"There we go," I said as I walked over to the door and opened it. I looked through the doorframe. I had guessed correctly; there was a flight of stairs that appeared to lead to a room full of huge crates.

Finally, I was on my way to my destination.

**Just as a side note, I kind of LOL'd at how many times I used the phrase "on a boat" in this chapter. XD**

**Anyway, I should probably say that the next chapter (or possibly the one after that) will contain some minor violence.**

**And some have already figured out what's going to happen at this point.**

**Also, congrats to Midnight Eclipse713 for getting my Little Shop of Horrors reference! I'm just relieved that someone out there understands me! XD  
**


	6. I Want to Breathe

Traveling overnight was rough; I realized shortly after I got on the boat that I should have brought a blanket and pillow. Unfortunately, I also got a rude awakening, but it was better than no awakening at all. I snatched up my backpack, and ran as quickly as I could off that boat.

"Sleeping on the floor is never a good idea," I muttered, trying to stretch my back. However, my complaints were quickly overshadowed by what I saw.

As soon as I stepped off the boat, I was completely awed by the sight alone of the capital. Everything else contributed, of course, but I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Mom and Dad had told us about the capital many times, since the only time I had ever been was when Tristan and I were little babies. She had said there were tall buildings, and that it was a beautiful place. It must have changed a lot in fifteen years, though, because the buildings were bigger than any I had ever seen, and the place was just the opposite of beautiful. Even though it was early in the morning, the sky looked dark, and the place was filthy. The streets were covered in garbage, and lined with beggars. There was even some kind of flying machine that left a trail of black smog behind it.

_I'd better be careful, _I thought. I didn't want the little money I had to be stolen.

I started to look for any sign of a transportation service, but I was out of luck. I decided to walk around the city, maybe just to get an idea of what it was like, as well as find what I was looking for. Unfortunately for me, the place was way bigger than Alvarna, and not to mention unfamiliar, so I had to do quite a bit of wandering before I found anything.

Finally, I came to a nicer-looking building that said "Carriages". I wondered for a minute if I'd be able to afford it, even though the building wasn't the nicest, but I figured it would be better just to investigate. I pushed open the door, and walked inside, only to find that the place was a lot shabbier than I thought.

"Hello, miss," an old man at the counter said in a raspy voice. "What can I do for you today?"

"How much would it cost to rent a carriage to Trampoli?" I asked. The man scratched his head.

"Let's see," he said to himself. He turned his attention back to me. "Our cheapest offer is fifteen hundred."

"There's nothing cheaper?" I asked. "Fifteen hundred's all I have."

"No, miss," he replied. "That's our best offer." I sighed.

"I'll take it," I said. I took the money out of my backpack, and handed it to the man.

"Wonderful," he said. "My employees all have the day off, so I'll take you myself."

"Thanks," I said.

"The carriages are out back," he said. "I'll have one ready for you in just a minute." He ran out the back door behind the counter, and I followed.

Behind the building were lines of carriages, with buffamoos leading them. The old man was seated on top of a particularly small one.

_I can understand why that's the cheap one, _I thought.

"Ready, miss?" the old man asked.

"Yes," I replied. I opened the carriage door, and threw my backpack inside.

After a minute or so of being inside the carriage, it started to move. Being bored on long trips was my specialty, so I decided to sleep on the way. I figured that I needed it.

A loud _thump! _woke me up.

"What time is it?" I asked groggily. I looked through the carriage's small, grimy window, and saw that it was dark out. The carriage had also stopped, and I heard voices from outside. "Why is the carriage stopped?"

The voices from outside suddenly turned into shouting, and I started shaking all over. I felt a cough coming on, and I tried to suppress it as much as I could. Unfortunately, that didn't work, and I went into an uncontrollable coughing fit.

Suddenly, I felt something cold and metallic around my throat, and a hand gripped my arm. I gasped, and willed myself not to cry.

"Wh-what do you want?" I asked, trying to be brave.

"Where's the money?" a man's voice asked.

"I don't have any," I said, a tear rolling down my cheek. The grip on my arm tightened, and the knife, or whatever it was, came even closer to my throat.

"Don't lie!" the same voice roared. "I could kill you right now if I-"

"Hey, boss," a different voice said. "I think she may be telling the truth. I mean, look at this thing! Kid must be a runaway or something."

"Is that true?" the first voice said, so close to my ear that it was about twice as uncomfortable as the knife on my throat.

"Y-Yes," I replied. "I…don't have any money. I g-gave it all to the driver."

"Well," the first voice said, letting the knife off my throat. I collapsed to the floor of the carriage. "He's taken care of." I looked behind me. The two men were wearing all black, with long capes and masks over their faces.

"Let's just take the kid's backpack," the second man said. "Might have something valuable in there." My first instinct was to protest. I had formed quite an attachment to my backpack, and I needed the extra clothes, but it wasn't worth dying for.

"Excellent idea," the first man said. "And we'll have the carriage, of course." They both looked down at me. "We're going to spare you your life. And you didn't see out faces, so we have no need to kill you." They each grabbed one of my arms, and threw me out of the carriage.

"Hey!" I shouted. I tried to chase after the carriage, but the second man had already jumped into the front seat, and they carriage sped away.

I looked around. It was dark; there weren't even any streetlamps. All I could see was the road in front of me, the road behind me, and tall trees on either side of me. I was lost, that was for damn sure. It was better than being dead, though, so I decided to keep walking down the empty road. I had walked for what I guessed was about a mile, when I suddenly heard some rustling from the trees.

_Great, _I thought. _More highwaymen._

But it was much worse than that. Instead of two highwaymen, there were three goblins. True, goblins weren't the toughest monsters alive, but if you were unarmed, and on top of that, you didn't know how to fight, you were bound to shit your pants upon seeing three of them. Figuratively, of course.

My first instinct was to run. I couldn't fight them with my bare hands, after all. Only an idiot would fight a slightly insane monster that carried around a knife. I decided to go with my first instinct, but what I didn't know was that goblins were fast little buggers. At several points, I was running so fast that I didn't know where the heck I was going. The goblins started to slash their knives at my legs as they trailed behind me. I continued to run, although the crying out in pain slowed me down. On top of that, I was running through trees, which were also giving me cuts on my arms and legs.

I eventually came to a clearing, but I kept running like hell. A goblin gave me a particularly bad gash on my leg, but I tried as hard as I could to keep going.

_Maybe someone will see me, _I thought.

All of a sudden, I tripped over something sticking up out of the ground. A tree stump, I guessed. I flipped through the air, and landed, my head practically bouncing off the ground. When I tried to get up, a pain in my lower leg nearly brought me to tears. I had no choice other than to lie there on the ground, screaming in pain. That only made my breathing weak. I started coughing, and then felt as though I couldn't breathe anymore. Although I thought I had lost the goblins, I felt helpless.

I looked up at the sky, and gasped. One reason, obviously, was that I needed to breathe, and the other was because of what I saw.

_Is that a whale in the sky? _I wondered. I figured I was hallucinating.

My eyes closed against my will, and I was sure that I was going to die. But suddenly, I saw a bright light, like a lamp from a house. I opened my eyes slightly, and saw a figure standing in the light, and the voice of an older woman saying, "Oh, my."

**Poor kid. And don't say she deserves it. XD**

**I think we ALL know where this is going! But who is the old woman? Hm...**

**I guess I was lying when I said there'd be violence in this chapter. Well, sort of. The ESRB would call it "Fantasy Violence". I was originally going to have the highwaymen rough Arianna up a bit, but how would she have gotten to her destination otherwise?**

**Also, I'm sorry for the length of this chapter. *Hangs head in shame*  
**


	7. I'm Wide Awake

I slowly opened my eyes, wondering if what had happened was real. But then, I saw that I wasn't in my room, or on a boat, or in a carriage. The bed I was in wasn't my own, and the room I was in was unfamiliar. The walls looked like those of a log cabin, and the place looked quaint and rustic.

I tried to get up, but my head hurt so much that I cried out in pain and fell back to where I was. An older woman, who I guessed was the one who had spoken to me before I blacked out, came into the room. She couldn't have been too much older than my own grandparents, because her hair was very light blonde, not gray or white, and it was tied back in a messy ponytail. She had light blue eyes, and wore a blue and white dress.

"Hello!" she said cheerfully.

"Um…hello?" I replied.

A man, who looked to be about the same age as the woman, entered the room as well. He had dark brown hair, with some gray in it, and dark blue eyes. He wore a blue shirt with a collar, a leather jerkin, and brown gloves with no fingers.

"Is she awake yet?" he asked.

"Yes, honey," the woman replied in a happy, but far-off way. "See for yourself! Although she seems to be a bit delirious." The man looked exasperated.

"Don't even talk to me about delirious, Mist," the man said. Mist turned to look at me.

"Did the lightning get you?" she asked.

"Huh?" I asked.

"Pay no attention to her," the man, whose name I still didn't know, said.

"You know," Mist said to me, obviously ignoring her husband. "If you don't hide your belly button, lightning will take it away from you." I had absolutely no response to that.

"She already has a concussion," the man said. "We don't need to confuse her any more."

"Where am I?" I asked. "Who are you?"

"Why, you're in Trampoli!" Mist replied. "I'm Mist, and this is my dear husband, Raguna. Unless that's too much information for your brain to handle right now."

"She's right," Raguna replied. He turned to me. "Now, who are you? Do you know?"

Even though my head was still killing me, I had to think of a quick, but believable lie.

_I could always say I don't know who I am, _I thought. _But that sounds too fake. A half lie will have to work. And a fake name…_

"My name is…Ria," I said finally. When I was little, I tried once to get everyone to call me Ria, so that name was okay.

"What were you doing in Trampoli?" Mist asked. A perfect lie came to my head.

"It's a long story," I replied. "You see, I'm from a little town. Basically nobody's heard of it. It's out in the country. Anyway, I lived with my mother. I don't have any brothers or sisters. But my mom got sick and died just a few days ago, so now I'm trying to find my father. I heard that he lives somewhere in this region."

"But if you live far away," Raguna said. "Why didn't you take a carriage?"

"I did," I replied. "But it got attacked by highwaymen. And then I got attacked by the goblins. And then, I guess I blacked out on your doorstep. Speaking of that, how badly am I hurt?"

"Not too badly," Mist replied. "We had Lara, the local nurse take a look at you. You only have a couple of bad bruises, a broken ankle, a concussion, and a wound that required stitches."

"And you consider those _minor_ injuries?" I asked.

"You should have seen Raguna in his fighting days," Mist said with a giggle.

"You don't have any money?" Raguna asked me.

"Not at all," I replied. "My…mom and I were poor, and the highwaymen took all I had."

"Why don't you stay here?" Mist asked. "We have plenty of room!"

"Mist!" Raguna exclaimed. "We could set her up at the inn, or have her stay with someone else!"

"But we found her," Mist replied. "She could share a room with Ella or Gunie."

"But Gunie's a _boy_," Raguna replied. Mist stared at him with pleading eyes, and he sighed heavily. "If you really want her to stay here, then we can manage it."

"Are you sure?" I asked. "I don't want to bother anyone."

"You won't," Mist said happily. "Do you need to rest more, Ria, or would you like to come down and meet everyone? We got you some crutches."

"Uh…I'll go down," I replied. "But isn't it hard to go down stairs in crutches?"

"We can help you," Raguna said. "And Lara wrapped your ankle pretty well. Come on, I'll help you out of bed." I got up slowly, my head hurting less that time. I could barely feel my ankle, and my other leg was numb from the medicine Lara must have used for the stitches, but I could walk somewhat. Raguna took one of my arms, and Mist took the other, and they helped me to go down the stairs.

Because of the sun streaming through the windows, I guessed that it was about midmorning. There was a small table with eight chairs, and there were four people seated there, and one sitting by the fire. I saw the crutches leaned up against the wall, and I took them, and then I observed everyone else. Sitting closest to where I stood was a man, who looked to be about Dad's age. He was a spitting image of Raguna, so I figured he was his son. He was talking and laughing with a woman, who looked a lot like him. They couldn't have been brother and sister, though, because they seemed incredibly touchy-feely, like Mom and Dad acted. Then, there was a girl who looked about the same age as Julian, and exactly like Mist. Then, I looked over by the fireplace, and saw a boy. He looked exactly like Raguna as well, but he wore glasses. He seemed to be about my age, although he was reading a book with a title that even _I_ couldn't comprehend.

My thoughts were interrupted by Mist.

"Everyone!" Mist shouted, yet still able to sound cheerful. Everyone at the table turned to face her. "As you know, we have a special guest as of last night. This is Ria, and she will be staying with us until…" She looked at me. "How long will you stay?"

"Until I can find out where my father lives," I replied. "Or until I get better."

"All right, then!" Mist exclaimed. "So, if you could all introduce yourselves-" The girl that looked like Mist stood up quickly.

"I'm Ella!" she exclaimed. She waved at me, and sat down just as quickly as she stood up. The younger man and woman exchanged looks of displeasure.

They turned around. It was strange, because they really _did _look alike.

"Nice to meet you, Ria," the man said. "My name is Leif, and this is my wife, Leona." As Leona turned, I saw that she was pregnant.

"I know what you're thinking," Leona said with a laugh. "And everyone thinks it. We're not related, except for by marriage. I'm Raguna and Mist's daughter."

"And I'm Eunice's younger brother," Leif finished. "You'll meet her later."

"Hey, Gunie," Leif called over to the boy by the fireplace. "Why don't you come introduce yourself as well?" The boy, Gunie, threw down his book and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Dad," he said sternly. "My name is not _Gunie_. And I'm sick of being called that, so don't tell _her _those kinds of lies." I raised an eyebrow, since _I _was usually the one who handed out the disrespect.

"But you've been Gunie since you were a baby," Leona said. I could kind of tell that point had been argued over for quite some time.

"Yes," Mist added. "We'd call you that, and you would laugh and laugh, and then-"

"Just because I happen to be named Raguna," Gunie interrupted. "And just because I am the second Raguna does _not _mean that I need to be given a nickname that belittles me. Honestly, even 'Big Raguna' and 'Little Raguna' would be fine." He looked up at his family, but didn't even get a sympathetic look. "I'm going back to my book. Try not to bother me so much."

_What a whiner, _I thought. _And not to mention a jerk…but people probably think that about me._

"Oh, I nearly forgot!" Mist exclaimed. "Ria, would you like some breakfast? No, you don't even need to answer that. Sit down!" I guessed I really _didn't _need to answer; I hadn't eaten in days, and it probably showed. I limped on my crutches over to one of the empty chairs, and sat down with some difficulty.

"Where are you from, Ria?" Ella asked. Mist shushed her. "What, is that a bad thing to ask?"

"No, it's fine," I said. "I just don't really want to talk about it. My mother recently died, so I'm trying to find my father, who I hear lives really nearby."

"I'm so sorry!" Ella cried. "I didn't know, I really didn't! I just thought that maybe you were from a big city or something, because you're really cool and pretty!"

"Um…thank you," I replied. I wasn't quite sure what to think, but I quickly came to the conclusion that Ella was just a hyper little girl who desperately needed an older sister.

From across the room, I heard Gunie snort.

"What's the matter, Gunie?" Leona asked. "Don't _you _think she's pretty?" Gunie snorted again.

"Please, Mom," he replied. "Don't set the girl up for disappointment. You wouldn't want to hurt anyone's feelings." My jaw dropped, and I wasn't sure whether to laugh or be offended.

"Gunie!" Ella shouted, so loudly that my head throbbed in pain. "You're a big fat jerk, you know that?"

"I'm not sure I know," he replied haughtily. "Also, that's not even the worst insult I've ever heard, so unless you do it intelligently, I won't take offense."

"Hmph!" Ella muttered with a scowl on her face.

"Here's some breakfast for you," Mist said from behind me. "I hope you like turnips!"

"Thanks," I said as she put the plate in front of me. I took after Grandma Mana in that I loved pink turnips, but regular ones were fine too. What Mist had prepared was an omelet, completely filled with turnips.

_I could get used to this place, _I thought. It was the first time in a while that I had actually felt content. Unfortunately, Gunie had to start talking again.

"'I hope you like turnips' is right," he muttered. "Grandma doesn't know how to cook anything else."

"Gunie!" Leona cried in shock.

"Don't call me that," Gunie replied, mocking her surprised tone of voice.

"If you don't haul ass upstairs," Leif said, standing up. "You're not going to be able to feel it by tomorrow. Now go." Gunie smirked, and walked up the stairs.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," Leona said to me, once he was gone. "He's usually not like this."

"Lies," Raguna said. "The kid's a piece of work."

"I agree with Grandpa," Ella stated.

"I'm really not offended," Mist said happily. She thought for a second. "Although I have to say, had Bianca been his grandmother, he probably would have gotten hit with a frying pan."

"Very true," Raguna said with a laugh.

_I have no idea who the hell they're talking about, _I thought.

Leona turned to me, and it was as though she read my mind.

"You probably have no idea what we're talking about," Leona said gently. "All in good time. But first, you need to get better."

"I hope you get better soon, Ria!" Ella added.

"She will," Mist said. "But then she'll get sick."

"Really?" I asked. "Is there some kind of epidemic here?"

"Not really," Mist replied cheerfully. "I was just joking."

"She means," Raguna said with a smile. "That soon, you're going to meet the inhabitants of Trampoli."


	8. We've Got a Bleeder

After a few days, my head stopped hurting, and my ankle felt a little stronger. The stitches, of course, would take longer, but I could sort of walk on my own. Unfortunately, Mist noticed one day while she was cooking.

"Look at how well you're walking!" she exclaimed.

"I'm…not really walking _that _well," I replied. It was tough; on one hand, I hadn't had a smoke or a drink in almost a week, but on the other, I didn't want to be a total jerk to anyone in that family. They were too nice to me. Besides, they already had a total jerk, even before I came.

"Oh, that's so wonderful!" Mist cried. She lowered her voice. "Now, you won't get eaten by the bedbugs."

"Bedbugs?" I asked.

"Shh!" Mist whispered. "They'll _hear _you!" I decided to go over by the fireplace and read, even though I wasn't too focused on anything that day.

Raguna and Leif came through the door, both with red faces and covered in dirt. They both collapsed into chairs.

"Hungry?" Mist asked.

"You have no idea," Raguna replied. "And thirsty, too. This is the hottest autumn day we've had."

"You shouldn't still be working," Mist said. "You might hurt your back again, and that would be bad."

"I know," Raguna said, as if he'd heard that a million times. "But the Runeys aren't doing so well this season, and we need to plant as much as we can. I can't just let Leif do that by himself."

Mist set down two plates and two glasses of water, and Raguna and Leif began to devour everything.

"Leona didn't help you?" Leif asked with his mouth full of food.

"She's with Doriane," Mist replied. Leif sighed. "I know you worry about her, but she's a smart girl. Besides, she hasn't been out much, what with the morning sickness."

"I guess you're right," Leif replied, smiling a little. "And this is the first day I haven't woken up at four in the morning."

"She must get it from her mother," Raguna said with a laugh.

"I remember those days," Mist said, with a nostalgic tone to her voice. "And the dreams I had were really very interesting. One time, I dreamed that there was a singing and dancing clucky wearing a cat tail in our bedroom." Raguna raised both eyebrows, shook his head, and went back to eating.

The front door opened, and Leona ran through, smiling broadly. Leif got up from his chair with a panicked look on his face.

"You shouldn't run like that!" he cried. "Is everything okay?"

"I'm fine!" Leona replied, looking as though she couldn't contain her excitement.

"Oh, no," Raguna said with a smile. "You got Doriane to ask the spirits about the baby, didn't you?"

"Yes," she replied. "After all, they say five months is the time to do it. And Candy confirmed it, so it's definitely right."

"I had a dream a few years back about that," Mist said. "You told us that you were going to have quadruplets. And then Leif turned into a buffamoo and ran away."

"No, Mom," Leona said, as if Mist's statement was perfectly normal. "But we _are _having a baby girl." Leif gave her a big hug, and Raguna and Mist joined in.

"Ella's finally getting a playmate," Leif said.

"All right," Leona said. "Everyone, off." Raguna, Mist, and Leif did as she asked and let go. "I know Ella is going to be thrilled, but it's Gunie I'm worried about."

"He'll be fine," Leif replied, sitting back down at the table. "He's not a toddler, and he knows we love him just as much."

Leona looked over at the fireplace sadly, but when she noticed me, she perked up.

"Ria!" she exclaimed. "I didn't see you over there! Why don't you come and sit with us?"

"All right," I said. I slowly got up, and limped over to the table.

"Oh, you shouldn't try to walk," she said with a sense of urgency in her voice. "You could end up hurting yourself even more than you already are!" She quickly got up from the table and handed me my crutches, which were leaning against a nearby wall.

"Thank you," I said. I wasn't sure whether to leave it at that, or tell her not to worry about me, but I figured it wasn't really my job to reprimand a woman I barely knew.

"Leona," Leif said. "You _need _to stop running all the time! What if you slip and fall?"

"I'm sorry," she replied. "That _was _stupid of me. But the mother in me couldn't help it." She sat back down at the table, and I did the same.

As Mist set a plate full of food in front of me, I suddenly thought of something, and decided to say what I was thinking.

"Where are Gunie and Ella?" I asked. "I haven't seen them all day."

"They're at school," Leif replied. "Don't you have school in the small town you're from?"

"Oh, wow," I said with a laugh. "I guess I really _did _hit my head hard." I thought for a second. "So, there are other people in town that go to school?"

"Of course," Leona said. "And most of them are about your age, too."

"I have an idea," Mist said, suddenly very excited. "Ria should go to school!"

"Mist, are you out of your mind?" Raguna asked. "She can barely walk!"

"And even when she get better," Leif added. "We don't want to force her to go."

Truthfully, I didn't want to go to school at all. I hated school back in Alvarna, but maybe school in Trampoli would be better. And again, I didn't want to be rude to the people that were taking such good care of me.

"Um, sure," I said. "I'll go to school."

"I knew you'd want to," Mist said. "I'm sure you'll really like it."

"All right, then," Leona said. "I'll be sure to let Anette know you'll be coming. When do you want to start?"

"Whenever," I replied with a shrug.

"And when Gunie gets home," Mist said. "He can tell you all about it. Raguna, Leif, and Leona all turned to look at her.

"I…don't think that's such a good idea," Leona said.

_Me neither, _I thought.

"And why not?" Mist asked. "He's at the top of the class, and he gets better grades than all the older kids."

"We know," Leif said.

We continued eating, and Raguna and Leif eventually went back to working in the field. Mist started cleaning the house, Leona went to take a nap, and I decided to go back to my book. Before I knew it, the door opened again.

"We're home!" I heard Ella shout.

"Quiet now," Mist said in a hushed tone of voice. "Your mother's asleep upstairs."

"Sorry!" Ella whispered. "I didn't know!"

I looked up from my book, and over at Gunie and Ella. As usual, Ella looked happy and excited about something. But Gunie looked different than he usually did. His hair was a mess, and his glasses had what looked like a bandage wrapped across the middle. And to shock me even more, it looked as though he had a black eye, a bruised cheek, and a split lip.

Leona came downstairs, and smiled upon seeing Gunie and Ella.

"Oh, no," Ella said sadly. "Did I wake you up?"

"No, sweetie," Leona replied. "I was already awake, so I came down to see you two. How was your day?"

"Great!" Ella exclaimed, quickly changing from sad to overjoyed. "I got a really good grade on my Elvish test!"

"Good," Leona said enthusiastically. "Tabatha's so sweet to tutor you. Make sure to thank her."

"Okay!" Ella said cheerfully. She skipped off toward her room.

"What about you, Gunie?" Leona asked after Ella had disappeared.

"I don't respond to that," Gunie muttered with a scowl.

"Well, you just did," Leona replied. "What's that on your face?"

"Nothing," Gunie replied, keeping his insolent expression.

"Sure," Leona replied, obviously getting irritated. "I guess 'nothing' also split your lip and broke your glasses." He smirked. "You think this is _funny_?If you don't stop fighting at school, we're going to-"

"What are you going to do?" he asked. "Do absolutely _nothing _like you've always done? Or do you have a different plan now?"

"Go to your room," Leona said as she put her right hand on her hip.

"Fine," Gunie replied. "Maybe then I can have some peace and quiet." He walked off toward his room.

During the time Gunie was being a total jerk to Leona, I felt immensely angry, like I needed to punch something. As soon as he left, though, I relaxed. And when I thought about it, he probably didn't need to get beaten up any more than he already was. He had obviously gotten his ass handed to him by someone at school. I wanted to congratulate that person with all my heart, because someone like Gunie deserved a little roughing up. That was my opinion, anyway.

**How mean, Arianna! Or should I say "Ria"?  
**

**Argh, I need to stop writing really short chapters! Unfortunately, if I wrote in the part about Arianna going to school, this chapter would have been about 2,000 words too long.**

**And Gunie...wow. He makes Arianna look like a perfect little angel, doesn't he? But the real reason behind his terrible attitude makes me so sad, even though I'm writing it.  
**

**Next chapter, be ready for OC overload! As some hints, there will be one boy named Isidore (as in, the _patron saint_ of _farmers_), and twin girls named Lolita and Poppy (or as they like to be called when they're together "Lollipop"). That should be a little information to figure out the names of their grandparents! And there are a few more still!**


	9. School Sucks

Only two days after I had said I would, I found myself walking to school with Gunie and Ella. It was the first time since I arrived in Trampoli that I had been able to leave the house and walk around. A few days before, Leona had gone to see the nurse, Lara, and what she brought back was a godsend. It was boot made out of wood and metal, and I could use it to walk without my crutches, but only if my ankle was properly bound up.

Getting the fresh air was great, but Ella's constant talking and Gunie's scowl were just too much for me to handle at once.

"School is so great!" Ella was telling me for the millionth time. "You'll get to meet my very best friend! His name is Juniper. He told me his grandma used to be a vampire!"

"Great," I said with false enthusiasm.

"You realize, Ella," Gunie said. "That you've told her that already."

"I'm just excited," Ella said. "Do you have a _problem_?"

"No," he replied in his usual rude way. "But I think I should have a turn to tell Ria about school. Do you mind?"

"Go ahead," Ella replied, although she knew as well as I did that whatever Gunie was about to say would be something stupid or unpleasant in general.

Gunie cleared his throat.

"Basically," he began. "Everyone and everything at school sucks. Anette, the teacher, tries to make everything fun and enjoyable for us, but it never works. Then, most of the students are idiots in one way or another. For example, everyone except _me _can't even get their Orcish homework done right. And Orcish is the easiest language out of all of them."

I _don't even know how to speak Orcish, _I thought.

"And lastly," Gunie said. "Don't even so much as _think _about me when I'm with Amy."

"Gunie's stupid girlfriend," Ella interrupted. "She's Juniper's mean older sister, and Mom and Dad think she looks like a streetwalker!"

"You don't even know what a streetwalker is," Gunie muttered.

"She shouldn't," I said, glaring at him.

Gunie stopped in his tracks.

"I'm sorry," he said. "Did you…_say _something?"

"Yes, I did," I replied. Gunie scowled, and kept walking.

We finally reached a building, which I guessed was an old church.

"This is school!" Ella cried. "Isn't it beautiful?"

"Um...yeah," I replied. I was really trying to be nice, because the place was really run-down.

"Don't lie," Gunie scoffed. "It's a dump, and in more ways than one."

As we got nearer to the old building, I noticed some people entering it. I was actually kind of excited to meet other kids that weren't the ones back in Alvarna.

"You're going to have a lot of fun," Ella assured me.

"I hope so," I replied. Gunie pushed open one of the huge double doors, and we went inside.

We passed through the church itself, and then went through a door on the left.

"This place used to be the nuns' quarters," Ella told me. "But they don't really need it anymore because Lara got married, and Sister Stella died way before I was even born." Finally, we came to the classroom.

There was a woman who looked about the age of Mist and Raguna sitting at a desk at the very front of the room, but when she saw us, she came running.

"Morning, Gunie and Ella!" she exclaimed. She smiled at me. "And you must be Ria!"

"Yes ma'am," I replied. I felt kind of weird saying it, since it had been years since I had called anyone "ma'am".

"Very nice to meet you!" the woman exclaimed. "Gosh, they weren't kidding when they said you got attacked! Oh, and my name's Anette. I'm the only teacher here, so you'll be seeing me quite a lot!" She looked at a clock on the wall. "Oh, look at the time! Everyone, please take your seats!" Everyone quickly did as she asked. I, however, stood there for a while until I found an empty desk. It was right behind a guy with bluish hair, and from what I could tell, huge muscles. On my right side was Gunie, and on my left side was a girl who looked like she might have been ready to graduate. She had brown hair, and eyes of almost the same color.

"As you may have noticed," Anette said. "We have a new student! Her name is Ria, and she's been staying with Gunie and Ella's family. So, to help make her feel more at home, why don't we all go around the room and introduce ourselves? Let's start with you, Isidore, since Ria already knows Ella."

"Um, okay," a boy at the front said. He turned to face me, and I noticed that he looked exactly like the girl sitting next to me. "Well, I'm Isidore."

"Sebastian," the guy in front of me said. As he turned around, I noticed he was _everything_ I looked for in the appearance of a guy. He started looking me over, and I couldn't help but blush.

_He's checking me out! _I thought excitedly. _I could really get used to this place._

"I'm Hugh," the guy sitting next to Sebastian said. He looked exactly like Anette, so I figured they were related, but he had the ears of an elf.

Sitting on the far left of my row was a girl with blonde hair and bright green eyes. She shot me a dirty look. I knew right then that she was Gunie's girlfriend, firstly because of her hostility toward me, and second, because she was the only person in the room who even resembled a streetwalker.

_No wonder he likes her, _I thought. From what I knew, most guys that were total jerks went after the superficial qualities of girls rather than what most people consider important.

"I'm Amy," she said, still glaring at me.

_She seems like the jealous type, _I thought.

The girl sitting next to me turned to face me, and I realized that she must have been Isidore's older sister.

"I'm Helena," she said. She was very pretty, and had a very kind air about her.

Since Gunie was next to me and the last person in the middle row, I turned around to look at the back row. I rubbed my eyes, thinking I was hallucinating or seeing double, but I wasn't. I felt stupid as I realized they were just identical twins. They had bright red hair, blue eyes, pointed ears, and outfits that practically matched, aside from the fact that one was wearing red, and the other was wearing blue. They didn't look very young, but it was hard to tell, just because they were so tiny.

"I'm Lolita," the one in red said.

"And I'm Poppy," the one in the blue said.

"Or as we like to be called-" Lolita started to say.

"Lollipop!" Poppy finished.

Right next to Poppy was a little boy, who had to be Juniper. He had blonde hair, and bright blue-green eyes.

"I'm Juniper!" he exclaimed, confirming that he was who I thought he was. He looked toward the front row, smiled, and waved. "Hi, Ella!"

"Hi!" Ella replied.

_Jeez, _I thought. _Of course they're best friends._

"Well," Anette said. "With that, we can start class. For the first fifteen minutes of class, you can have a quiet study." Everyone started whispering or laughing. "A _quiet _study, guys. I've known you long enough. After those fifteen minutes are up, Tabatha should be here for the Elvish lesson."

I was a little lost, since I had never learned Elvish, and I didn't have anything I could study. Anette must have noticed, because she came over to my desk.

"Have you ever spoken Elvish, Ria?" she asked.

"No," I replied. "All I can do is read and understand a little Earthscript, but I've never learned any other language."

"Okay," Anette said. "Since you obviously have some Elvish heritage, it should come fairly naturally to you. It's actually really easy compared to Earthscript, but for now, you can look on with someone next to you." She scanned the room. "Sebastian would probably be the best to share a book with, since he's still at a fairly basic level."

"All right," I said.

After a few minutes, an older woman wearing a maid's outfit came into the room.

"Sorry I'm late," she said in a gentle voice. "Miss Bianca insisted on cooking again." Anette laughed.

"She's still as stubborn as ever," she said. "And why do you insist on calling her 'Miss Bianca' after all these years? She's sixty-five years old, you know. But we'd better get to the lesson. Class, Tabatha's here!" As if that was a cue to behave, all of the kids sat up straight and stopped their whispering. I tried to follow suit.

Tabatha said something in a language I had never even heard, and the class replied with something very similar. The only word I could make out was "Tabatha".

_That must mean "good morning", _I thought. Tabatha said something else, and everyone opened up their books and turned to someone nearby. Sebastian turned around to face me, with a smile that seemed almost sly.

"She just said to have a conversation," he said. "But since you don't know Elvish, I think I'd rather just talk to you."

"Oh…okay," I replied, blushing again. Since I'd never really been around too many incredibly attractive guys, I wasn't sure how to respond to one.

"You're cute when you blush like that," he said. "So, do you want to hear about what everyone's _really _like?"

"Sure," I replied, trying to be a little less nervous.

Sebastian looked over at Isidore and Hugh, who were working together.

"Isidore's my kid brother," he said. "He's fifteen, but he acts like he's five. He's still scared of girls."

"You guys are related?" I asked.

"Yeah," he replied. "Although _he _takes after our mom's dad, Erik, who was apparently a total pretty boy back in the day. I, on the other hand, take after my dad's dad, Brodik."

"So I guess that means Helena's your sister," I said.

"She is," Sebastian told me. "Even though she looks like Isidore, she's more like our grandma, Lara, in terms of her personality. She's going out with Hugh, the town's 'Mr. Nice Guy'. I don't think it'll work, though. They're both too nice." He looked over at Amy, who was working with Gunie, and frowned.

"Got a problem with her?" I asked.

"If you don't already," he replied. "Then there's something wrong with you. Basically, anyone who associates with that Gunie is my enemy." He paused. "I went out with Amy a little while ago. She sure makes for an interesting night, despite the fact that she's a bitch. She's got a weird past, though. Her grandma, Iris Noire used to be a vampire, but somehow, she turned human. Then, she found out she was pregnant with Amy's mom, Irwen. Nobody ever talks about it, so it was probably a rape. I have no idea how you'd rape a vampire, but I'd rather not try." He laughed. "Anyway, her other grandparents, Lute and Selphy, are out of their minds. That's it."

"No wonder she's so screwed up," I muttered.

"No kidding," Sebastian said. "And I guess you already know about Gunie and what a little twerp he is. He picks a fight with me basically every lunch, and I kick his ass every time."

"And I congratulate you for that," I said.

"Thanks," Sebastian replied. "Who else is there? Juniper, but there's not too much to say about him, other than that he stares at Ella all day long. Oh yeah, Lolita and Poppy. God…" He inhaled. "They're idiots. All they know how to do is sing. And to make things worse, Lolita has a thing for Gunie, and Poppy feels the same way about Isidore. But they're so stupid that they don't even know how to go about it. You'll see their…techniques." He looked at me again. "So, enough about me. What's up with you?"

"There's really nothing to tell," I replied. Just as I said that, Tabatha walked by.

"Speak in Elvish, please," she said. "Sebastian, why don't you help Ria out?"

"Okay," Sebastian replied.

Somehow, I actually learned a lot of Elvish. Eventually, Tabatha left, and we got to work in the forge. That part, I wasn't so great at, but it was still kind of fun, especially since I had Sebastian to stare at the whole time.

**And the plot thickens!**

**It seems that Arianna and Sebastian share many views about the world. I guess that basically means that they think it sucks.  
**

**More to come soon! And we'll get to know the characters and their families _much _better. I plan to use Isidore as a device for comedy. XD  
**

**Also, I've decided to drop the whole "21st Century Breakdown lyrics as chapter titles" thing, unless they really pertain to the chapters, because it's getting way too hard to do.  
**


	10. Want You to Slap Me Around

Lunch came before I knew it, and we all went outside. It was pretty similar to Alvarna's school in that respect. All I could think of was how lucky I was that Leona made my lunch, since Mist had made something with turnips in it almost every day, and I was starting to get really sick of them.

"Do you want to sit with me?" Sebastian asked. I couldn't think of anything I would want to do more.

"Sure," I replied. He gestured to the graveyard.

"That's where I usually sit," he said. He started to walk in that direction, and I followed him.

We sat down at the entrance to the graveyard, and opened our sack lunches.

"Damn," Sebastian muttered. "Can't that woman make anything other than sandwiches?" Even though he was obviously displeased with his lunch, he took it out and began to eat it.

I had a sandwich that I began to eat as well, but I let my eyes wander. As much as I liked looking at Sebastian, I figured I shouldn't have too much of one good thing. Unfortunately, as soon as I looked away, I caught sight of Amy and Gunie making out.

"Ugh," I muttered.

"Does that offend you?" he asked. "It sure offends me."

"It's disgusting," I replied.

Sebastian cupped his hands over his mouth, and turned toward Gunie and Amy.

"Adorable!" he shouted. "Why don't you just start doing it right now?" Instead of stopping their little makeout session to say something, the two of them flipped Sebastian off in perfect synchronization.

"Jeez," I murmured. "Looks like they've practiced that one."

"It's not much," he replied. "But it's enough."

"Enough what?" I asked.

"Follow me," he said, getting up.

We walked over to where Gunie and Amy were. They had stopped making out, and instead, Amy was whispering in his ear.

_Probably filth, _I decided. Luckily, when she saw me, she stopped paying attention to Gunie, and frowned at me.

"What do _you _want?" she asked me.

"It's not what _she _wants," Sebastian replied. "It's what _I_ want. Ria, you might want to step out of the way."

Gunie looked terrified as he stood up. He probably knew he was going to get his ass kicked. I tried really hard not to laugh at his frightened expression.

"Do something!" Amy commanded. Unfortunately for Gunie, when he turned around to look at her, Sebastian punched him on the other side of his face.

As if that first punch was some kind of cue, the rest of the class came running up to watch.

"Sebastian!" Helena called. "Stop it now!"

"Yeah," Isidore said in his timid voice. "Violence is never the answer."

"Shut up, you little mistake!" Sebastian growled. "Or you'll be next!" Right as he said that, Gunie threw a punch at him.

"I think that was a wonderful statement, Isidore!" Poppy cried, giving him a hug.

"Ack!" Isidore squealed. "Get off me, you...girl!"

"I love you, Gunie!" Lolita shouted.

"I'm telling Mom and Dad!" Ella declared.

Finally, Sebastian had Gunie pinned against one of the stone walls of the school.

"Say you're a jerk!" Sebastian demanded.

"No!" Gunie protested. That resulted in a slap.

"Say it!" Sebastian said again, but louder this time.

"I won't do it!" Gunie shouted. Sebastian's choice that time was to punch him.

"_Say it!_" Sebastian yelled.

"You're…a complete asshole," Gunie said, breathing heavily.

I could tell that really pissed Sebastian off, because he kneed Gunie in the groin as hard as he could.

"I'll let you off the hook," Sebastian said. "For now, anyway." Gunie just lay on the ground, obviously in a great deal of pain.

Honestly, I didn't believe that getting flipped off was an excuse to beat the crap out of someone. But, I figured Gunie had been a jerk to Sebastian in the past, so maybe he did need to learn his lesson. Besides, Gunie had the choice to not fight back, and also just to admit that he _was _a jerk.

Anette came running outside looking incredibly flustered, but her expression quickly changed to an annoyed one.

"Everyone," she said sternly. It was like she was a different person than I had seen before. "Go inside. I've decided to cut lunch short due to your classmates' inappropriate behavior." Everyone except me, Amy, and of course, Gunie and Sebastian, groaned and went inside. Anette followed them, still looking annoyed.

I looked down at Gunie lying on the ground, and Sebastian standing over him. Amy just stood there scowling. When Sebastian noticed me, he started walking toward me.

"Come on," he said. "Let's go inside." He held out his hand, and I took it.

As we walked away from them, I heard a dialogue that I could hardly believe.

"Get up, you loser," Amy said harshly.

"S-Sorry," Gunie replied.

"Once again," Amy said. "You've embarrassed me." That was all I heard, and it was all I wanted to hear.

_What an insanely unpleasant couple, _I thought.

The rest of the school day passed pretty quickly, even though the lessons were pretty boring. When Anette finally dismissed us, Gunie and Sebastian both tried to run out the door.

"Gunie," Anette said. "Sebastian, you can't leave just yet."

"We can go," Ella said to me. "We just have to wait for my stupid brother."

We left the classroom, and waited outside the door.

"No," Ella whispered. "We should hide!"

"O-Okay," I replied. We went off into a different room, but to one where we could still hear what was going on.

"I'm sure you know why I've asked you to stay," she said. There was no answer. "You know, you're going to have to stop this."

"He started it," Gunie said.

"That's really mature," Sebastian muttered.

"I'm going to have to agree with him," Anette said. "But that doesn't mean you're off the hook, Sebastian. Your parents will hear from me. You may go." I heard footsteps, and then saw Sebastian leave the school building.

"Gunie," Anette continued. "You really need to-"

"What do I need to do?" he demanded. "Stop trying to defend myself? The guy insults me, so I flip him off. Then the bastard freaking punches me!"

"Watch your language, please," she said. "And you shouldn't provoke him like that. He has issues of his own."

"Don't imply that I have issues," Gunie said, his voice sounding defensive.

"The Sadness is an issue," Anette said. "And I know you struggle with it. It must be hard, and-"

"May I go now?" Gunie asked coldly.

"Yes," Anette said, sighing.

Gunie walked hurriedly from the classroom, but when I saw him, he looked like a different person. Instead of his usual disdainful expression, his face looked sad, and he was staring down at the floor. Ella and I stepped out from the room where we had been, and Gunie jumped.

"W-What are you doing here?" he asked. I could have sworn I saw him rub his eyes.

_What a crybaby! _I thought.

"We were waiting for _you_," Ella replied.

"Well," Gunie told her, obviously trying to sound tough. "You could have left."

"What's the Sadness?" I asked.

"That's none of your business," Gunie snapped.

As we walked home, I couldn't help but wonder what the Sadness was. Was it some kind of disease? I'd never heard of it or read about it, so maybe it wasn't real. Besides, Gunie didn't seem sad. He just seemed like an arrogant jerk.

Whatever it was, I was curious to find out. It wasn't because I cared; I would just be annoyed until I knew what it was.

**Not a terribly exciting chapter, but oh well.**

**Also, this will probably be one of the last updates until after November. As some of you know, I'm doing National Novel Writing Month, and therefore, will not be able to write new chapters.**

**So that means I need reviews!**


	11. The Church District

One day after school, I decided to go to the Rune Archives to see if I could find any information on Gunie's mysterious illness. That turned out to be a big mistake.

I had learned that the Rune Archives was the town's library from Mist. The only problem was that Amy lived there, because the librarian was her grandmother. I'd never met the librarian before, but I just hoped she wasn't an idiot like Amy.

As I opened the door to the Rune Archives, I was greeted by a book flying past my head.

"Lute!" someone shouted. "Where did you put that book?!" I hesitantly walked into the building, hoping not to get hit with a book. I saw someone bent over, digging through a pile of books, and throwing the ones that weren't the ones she was looking for. The woman was wearing a blue-green top hat with a matching blazer, and a tan skirt. She must have heard me come in, because she stood up and walked toward me.

"Do you love books, young lady?" she asked me.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"Do I have to ask any louder?" the woman asked.

"Well," I said. "I guess I like books, but-"

"_Like?_" she asked. "How can you only _like _books? Books are the greatest inventions of the whole entire world! If you don't love books, you're out of you're mind!"

_Look who's talking, _I thought.

"I used to be a princess!" she declared. "And I-"

A man with red hair and blue-green eyes came running.

"Mom!" he cried. He turned to me. "Sorry to bother you. Do you need something?"

"Yes, she does!" the woman cried. "She only _likes _books!"

"Mom, please," he begged. "Don't intimidate the poor girl." He looked at me again. "You're the girl staying on Raguna's farm, right?"

"Yes," I said. "I'm Ria."

"I'm Joseph," he replied. "And this is-"

"I'm Selphy!" his mother interrupted. "And don't you forget that!"

"Nice to meet you," I said, still incredibly freaked out by Selphy ranting and raving like a madwoman.

"Mom," Joseph said. "Why don't you go back and read for a bit? I'm sure Dad will find your book."

"He'd better!" Selphy replied. Finally, she went into a back room of the messy library and slammed her door.

"Sorry about that," Joseph said. "She's been writing her latest book for days on end. It drives her a little crazy. Were you here for something in particular?"

"Yes," I replied. "I've been looking for information on medical conditions."

"Medical conditions?" he asked. "Of what nature?"

"I honestly don't know," I replied.

"Well," he said, smiling. "I'll try to find you something. Now, the pharmacy stuff is over here…" He stepped over a pile of books, and walked over to a badly-organized shelf. He started looking through books. "I guess you've met my kids by now."

"Amy and Juniper?" I asked. "Yeah…I've met them." I wasn't going to tell such a nice guy that his daughter was a bitch, but I still didn't want to make it sound like we were best friends or something.

"I thought you might have," he said. "After all, Amy's going out with Gunie, and every other word Juniper says is 'Ella'."

"Yeah," I said. "I know."

Joseph sighed, and turned to face me.

"We have some books on medicine," he said. "And one on curing illnesses. You're not looking for something about medicine, are you?"

"No," I replied. "But if it's okay, can I check out the second one?"

"Sure," he replied, handing me the book. "I'll write it down. Come back anytime!"

"Thanks," I said.

I left the library, and began to walk back toward the farm. As I passed the Clock Tower, though, I heard someone singing beautifully. I stopped walking and listened, but I didn't hear the singing anymore.

"Girls," I heard someone say. "Let's try it again."

"Aw, Grandma," someone else said. I recognized the voice as either Lolita's or Poppy's. "Do we _have _to?"

"Yes," the first voice replied. "You never know when some talent scout will be staying at the inn!"

"But that's highly unlikely," one of the twins said.

Suddenly, the door of the old building opened, nearly knocking me over. A woman who looked about Leona's age came running up to me. She had strawberry blonde hair, and lavender eyes that stared at me sympathetically.

"Oh, no!" she cried. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," I replied. "I'm fine. I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I just heard singing, and-"

"Oh, the girls!" she exclaimed. "They were just practicing with my mom. She always wants to make sure they're prepared for anything!" She laughed. "Come inside! I'm sure everyone will want to meet you!"

"Um, sure," I replied.

We stepped inside the Clock Tower. Although the outside looked really old, the inside looked as though it had recently been redone.

"I forgot to introduce myself," the woman said. "I'm Doriane."

"I'm Ria," I said. "You're Leona's friend, right?"

"Ever since childhood," Doriane replied. "And my husband, Kevin, is very good friends with Leif."

"Candy, dear!" I heard someone yell from upstairs. "Stop drilling them! I'm trying to sharpen my sword!"

"My father," Doriane said to me. "And I'm sure Kevin and Hugh are up there with him. Although Hugh might be over at Erik's farm…I'm sorry, I'm talking to myself. It just seems I can't keep track of my own kids these days!"

"That's all right," I replied.

Doriane led me up the stairs, talking cheerfully the whole time.

"Please don't go up the stairs like that," a quiet voice said. "I can barely hear myself think." I looked around, until I saw an older woman with faded red hair, who was working with some kind of chemistry set.

"Sorry, Aunt Cinnamon," Doriane said. "Have you met Ria yet?"

"No," Cinnamon replied quietly, without looking up from her work. She muttered something about peace and quiet, and continued her work.

"Lolita," a voice from outside said. "You sing the harmony on this one. Don't keep singing Poppy's part, dear."

"Mom, please give them a break," Doriane said.

"All right," Doriane's mother said. "In you go."

Lolita and Poppy came rushing in, looking tired.

"Hello, Ria!" they exclaimed in unison.

"What are you doing here?" Lolita asked.

"Your mom invited me in," I replied. Just as I said that, a woman came behind them. She looked a lot like Doriane, except much older, and without the elf ears.

"I'm sorry, girls," she said, putting her arms around the twins. "You know how I feel about your singing, and how beautiful I think it is!" She suddenly caught sight of me. "Hello, there! You must be Ria! I'm Candy."

_Candy and "Lollipop", _I thought.

"Nice to meet you," I said.

"Aren't you just the sweetest thing!" she exclaimed. "Do you sing much, Ria?"

"Um…yes," I replied. "I play piano as well."

A door opened, and two men walked out. One looked to be about Candy's age, and the other looked about the same age as Doriane. The older one had elf ears, faded blonde hair, and blue eyes. The other was tall, and very thin. He had messy blonde hair, and eyes that looked almost like a mixture of blue and purple.

"Don't try to recruit _her _too," the older man said.

"This is my husband Marco," Candy said, looking as though she hadn't acknowledged what he said.

"And this is _my _husband Kevin," Doriane said, gesturing to the younger man.

"Hi," Kevin said. "I'm guessing you're Ria."

"Yes," I said, nodding.

"And I know you've met my mom," Kevin said. I furrowed my brow; he didn't look like anyone I'd met. "Oh, sorry. She's Anette. I guess I look more like my dad." He laughed.

"Oh, okay," I said.

"Say, Ria," Lolita said, peering at the huge book under my arm. "What's that book about?"

"Curing illnesses," I replied.

"Oh, no!" Poppy cried. "Are you sick?"

"Her ankle isn't better yet," Lolita pointed out.

"You're not going to find anything in that old book about modern illnesses," Marco said. "It's so old that when I got an infected cut from a fight, it said I had a cold."

"He's right," Candy said. "If you want to find out something about an illness, you should probably go and see Lara."

"All right," I said. "I'll keep that in mind." I paused. "I should probably head home. I don't want everyone to think I got lost or something."

"Of course," Doriane said. "They've got enough to worry about these days. The last thing they need is to organize a search party!"

"It was nice meeting you," I said. "Lolita, Poppy, I'll see you at school."

"Bye, Ria," the entire family said, almost in unison.

I went down the stairs, and back outside. When I went back home, though, I felt defeated. I hadn't managed to find anything out about Gunie, and like I had predicted, it was starting to bother me.

**I don't really have too much to say, other than that I really enjoyed writing Selphy. And I knew that the Lute/Selphy pairing was weird, but it makes sense in my mind. XD**

**And yeah, only three days until NaNoWriMo, so unless I can crank out a chapter in three days, you're not going to hear from me for a long time.**

**Also, don't worry. There's going to be a lot more of the original RFF cast. And I would also like to apologize for the boringness of this chapter.  
**


	12. The Biggest Jerk

When I finally got home, I felt as though I had to sit down. Walking with that heavy boot on was exhausting. I didn't want to go inside right then, since it was a nice day, but I still wanted to rest. I scanned the farm for a place to sit, but as far as the eye could see, it was just a big field. It reminded me a lot of home, except Trampoli was a lot more interesting than home.

I didn't want to think of home, and my legs were getting tired, so I brought my mind back to the task at hand. Finally, I noticed a small structure off to the side.

_A woodshed,_ I thought. I figured if I could just get on top of it, it would be a fine place to sit. I walked over to it, and somehow managed to hoist myself onto it. However, just a few seconds after, someone scared the crap out of me.

"Do you mind?" a voice asked. I did everything I could not to fall off that tiny shed.

"God!" I panted, gasping for air. "Who's down there?" When there was no response, I jumped as best as I could off the woodshed, and peered down into it.

The woodshed was fairly large for what it was, but instead of containing wood, it contained Gunie. He looked pretty cramped and uncomfortable, and I was pretty surprised to see him down in there.

"What the hell are you doing in there?" I asked.

"Why do you care?" he asked.

"Because you nearly just gave me an asthma attack," I replied.

"Fine," he replied. "It's the only place in this goddamn town where I can get any peace and quiet. Will you leave me alone _now_?"

"Gladly," I replied. I started to walk away, but then I noticed something shiny from within the woodshed. I stopped, and saw what it was. "Why the hell do you have a knife?"

"I make woodcarvings," he replied promptly. "Are you done asking questions yet?"

"Yeah," I muttered. "Jerk."

The woodshed creaked, and I heard quick footsteps come my way. A hand grabbed my shoulder, and forced me to turn around. I was looking at him straight in the eye.

"You know," he said, feigning sweetness, but still sounding angry. "My family cares a lot more about me than they do about you. And if you're mean to me…who knows what could happen? You could end up right back where you came from."

"Ugh!" I cried, pushing his hand off my shoulder. "Don't you _ever _touch me like that again!" Gunie raised an eyebrow, with that usual annoying smirk on his face. "Yeah, damn right you're confused. The only way you know how to touch a girl is with that whore you-"

"Why are you attacking her?" he asked. "You really are an ugly bitch, you know that?"

"First of all," I said. "I'm sure your mother would love to hear that you referred to _anyone_ as a bitch. And I'm attacking her because she's been pretty freaking rude to me. I also don't care to be in the presence of girls who drop their cooking instructions just so they can show off their underwear to their asshole boyfriend."

"Whoa," he said, taking a step back as if he was terrified. "Looks like someone needs something for that period of theirs."

I felt my face turn red, and my ears got very hot. I wanted to smack that idiot across the face, but I figured I could have Sebastian do it for me. On the other hand, I had never dealt with someone so frustrating in all my life, and I felt like I needed to do something.

"That is _it!_" I yelled, so loud that it echoed. "I am going inside _right now!_" Even though I still felt tired from the boot, I marched right into the house.

"You don't look happy, Ria," Ella commented. She was sitting at the table, and it looked as though she had been playing cards with Raguna and Mist, who were there with her.

"Where are Leif and Leona?" I demanded.

"No," Mist said cheerfully. "Not happy."

"They're…out right now," Raguna asked, obviously a little confused as to why I was so upset. "What's going on?" I sat down.

"_Gunie,_" I replied, practically spitting out the name.

"God damn," Raguna muttered. "Was he harassing you from the woodshed?"

"Yeah," I replied. "Is that…normal?"

"No," he replied. "That was just a really wild guess. Anyway, I'll go get him." Raguna got up from his seat, and walked outside. Mist and Ella left the room, as if that was a cue.

Within a minute or so, Raguna and his wretched little namesake came into the house, only Raguna was dragging Gunie by the collar of his shirt.

"Grandpa!" Gunie shouted, squirming like a small child. "Let go of me! Do you even know how strong you are?"

"Stronger than you," Raguna replied. Gunie continued to try and break free of Raguna's grasp, cursing angrily the whole time. "You do realize that you're just going to frustrate yourself, don't you? Now just calm down, and we can talk about this like adults."

The door suddenly burst open, and I looked away from the struggle, only to see that Leif and Leona were standing in the doorway, looking unbelievably shocked.

"Dad?" Leona asked. "What's going on?"

"It's all her damn fault!" Gunie shouted, still trying to get away from Raguna. He pointed at me. "She _provoked _me!" Leona sighed heavily.

"Gu-," Leif started to say.

"Don't you _dare _call me by that name right now!" Gunie growled.

"People are going to provoke you all your life," Leif said, as though he hadn't heard Gunie speak. "You're the only one that can control yourself. If you would calm down, you can tell what happened." Gunie took a deep breath, and his breathing steadily got deeper and more controlled.

"Are you ready to talk?" Leona asked.

"Yes," Gunie replied.

"Let's sit down," Leona said gently. "Dad, will you keep holding Gunie? If he gets mad again…"

"Sure," Raguna replied.

Leif and Leona sat down at the table.

"All right," Leif said. "Let's let Ria talk first."

"Why does _she _get to talk first?" Gunie demanded.

"Because she's been under control this whole time," Leif replied.

I wasn't sure how to respond to what was happening. I simply concluded that I had _never _in my whole entire life seen someone of his age act in such a childish way.

"All right," Leona said. "Ria, you can start at any time."

"Gladly," I replied. "I walked over here from the Clock Tower, and I was tired. I didn't want to go inside because it was such a nice day. So, I sat down on top of the woodshed, and Gunie startled me. Of course, I asked why he was down there, and he was pretty rude, so I…kind of called him a jerk. Then, he grabbed me by my shoulder, and basically told me that I had to be nice to him, otherwise you'd kick me out. So I told him off for touching me that way."  
"She called Amy a whore!" Gunie interrupted.

"You called _me_ an ugly bitch!" I shot back.

"You accused me of looking at Amy's underwear!" Gunie shouted, leaning across the table.

"You accused _me_ of menstruating!" I yelled right back in his face, leaning across the table as well.

"Okay," Raguna said. "I think _that _was the end of this conversation."

Gunie and I continued to stare each other down. His teeth were gritted, and his cheeks were flushed, aside from the one that was bruised. Behind his glasses, I saw that his eyes were narrowed, although it was hard to tell because of his black eye.

"Let's…sit back down," Leona said, obviously starting to get a little nervous. I did as she said, but Gunie stayed where he was.

"Seems like you kids just need to work out your problems," Raguna commented. "It's as simple as that. You've both got terrible tempers, I can tell. Maybe you should try spending some time together or something like that."

"Hell no!" Gunie shouted, looking at me with complete disdain. "Over my dead body!"

Gunie continued to shout, and Leona turned to me.

"Do you have anything you could be doing right now?" she asked. "I don't mean to kick you out, but we need to deal with Gunie." I realized something right then.

"Actually," I said. "I forgot a book I had checked out from the Rune Archives. I think I left it at the Clock Tower."

"All right," Leona said with a tired smile. "Just don't be out too late."

"Okay," I said. "I won't be." I got up from my chair and left the house, and nobody but Leona seemed to notice.

**This chapter kind of made me laugh in a way. I love Raguna being awkward. He's like that in the game, too!  
**

**Anyway, I kinda sorta caved writing my novel. Writing this was just too tempting!**

**So, yeah...reviews.  
**


	13. The Business and South Districts

By the next day, I had gotten my book from the Clock Tower without any trouble. Unfortunately, like Marco had said, I found nothing about a sickness called the Sadness. I read it from cover to cover, but there was nothing.

After school, I decided to take the book back to the Rune Archives. Leona was sitting in the kitchen, and she stopped me.

"Are you going out?" she asked.

"Yeah," I replied.

"Oh, good," she said. "I mean, I'm sorry to make you do this, but could you go down to Erik's farm in the South District and get some turnip seeds? Dad needs them, and everyone else seems to be busy."

"That's fine," I said. "I mean, you all are taking care of me. The least I could do is run a little errand for you."

"You're so sweet," Leona said.

I was taken aback. It had been a long time since I had heard that phrase from anyone, let alone someone whose son I had been fighting with. I hadn't even heard Mom say that for months, at least. But then again, she didn't really have a reason to.

"Are you all right, Ria?" Leona asked. I quickly snapped out of it.

"Yeah," I replied. "I'm fine. So, Erik's farm in the South District for turnip seeds?"

"Exactly right," Leona said. "And I'll get you some money." She rummaged through her pocket, and put ten gold into my hand.

"Okay," I told her. "Thanks."

I left the house, and subconsciously started walking down a path. Shortly after, though, I came to the sudden realization that I had no idea where I was. In front of me, I saw several buildings, and off in the distance, there were two older women. One of them was sweeping in front of a building to my left, and the other looked as though she was training with some kind of sword.

I walked up to them, although I had some trouble with my heavy boot.

"Hi," I said. "Um…where am I?" The woman who was sweeping, who had faded green hair and bright purple eyes, smiled at me.

"You're in the Business District," she replied. "This is the inn. And you must be the girl who's living with my little brother and his family. I'm sorry, what's your name again?"

"Ria," I replied. I was starting to get used to using my fake name. I continued to look at the woman, but then realized I was probably being rude. "Sorry. I didn't mean to stare. It's just that you don't look like Leif at all."

"Oh, that's all right," she replied. "Leif looks more like my father did, but he's lucky that he's thin like my mom was. I'm Eunice, by the way."

"Nice to meet you," I said.

The other woman that was there, who was very short and dressed in foreign clothes, walked up to us.

"What girl is this?" she asked. She didn't have any sort of accent, but I could tell she didn't speak English too well. "This is she who lives with Raguna, correct?"

"Yes," Eunice replied. "This is Ria."

"Very much pleased to meet you," the other woman said. "My name is Uzuki."

"Nice to meet you, too," I replied. "Anyway, do you know where-?"

Someone shouting interrupted me.

"Don't you _ever _set foot in here again!" a woman's voice yelled. I turned around, and saw that a blonde woman was chasing a man out of a building. The man ran right into a building that was right next to the one he was running from.

"Oh, Rosetta," Eunice said, shaking her head. "Even after decades, they're still fighting about business." She looked at me. "I'm sorry. You must have no idea what's going on. You probably know Danny, though."

"I actually don't," I replied.

"He is the owner of that shop," Uzuki said, pointing to the building he ran into. "He is also the husband of Anette and father of Kevin."

"Oh," I said. "Well, I just met Kevin yesterday, and I know Anette."

"What's going on?" a voice asked from behind us. It was a quiet, low voice, but there seemed to be a lot of sadness in just that phrase alone. "I heard yelling." Eunice, Uzuki, and I turned around. Standing in the doorway of the inn was a woman with silver hair. She was wearing a black and pink dress with some sort of jewel on it. Her eyes were closed, but when she opened them, I jumped back in surprise. One of her eyes was red, and the other was green.

"Iris," Eunice said, in a voice that sounded almost motherly. "You didn't need to get up. Everything's fine, as usual."

_Iris, _I thought. _This must be Amy's grandmother. They look strangely alike…_

"Who's this?" Iris asked. She was looking right at me.

"I'm Ria," I replied. Something about Iris was almost frightening, but still very sad.

"Oh," she said, looking down. "I've heard of you." She turned around, and went back inside, closing the door behind her.

I wasn't sure what to think.

"Iris does not often leave her room," Uzuki said with a heavy sigh. "A hard life, she has experienced."

"I've heard," I said. Because Sebastian had told me about that, I started thinking of him. But that thought connected to another one, and I remembered what I was supposed to be doing. "Oh no! Sorry to cut the conversation short, but could you tell me where to find Erik's farm?"

"Of course," Eunice replied. "See that path down there? You came from that one, but the path right next to it leads to the South District. You'll find Erik's farm there."

"Okay," I said. "Thank you."

I went as quickly as I could down the path to the South District, trying not to trip because of my boot. At first glance, the place seemed peaceful, but then, I heard a distressed shriek. I looked around, and saw that it was coming from a huge mansion. I figured that something was wrong, so I limped over to the mansion's huge double doors, and went inside without knocking.

Inside, I was surprised to see Tabatha. She was talking to a woman who was obviously an elf as well.

"I'm telling you, Tabatha!" the younger elf said. "We just need to murder her in her sleep. It'll be easy!"

"Minerva!" Tabatha scolded. "That's the most awful thing I've ever heard you say!" Suddenly, they both turned their attention to me.

"Sorry for barging in," I said. "I just thought something was wrong."

"Something _is _wrong," Minerva muttered. Tabatha glared at her.

"Everything's fine here," Tabatha said, smiling warmly at me. After that, though, I heard the same shriek, and what sounded like a plate shattering.

"What was that?" I asked. Tabatha looked behind her.

"Excuse me," she said quietly. "Miss Bianca seems to be unhappy with her afternoon snack." She turned, and walked in a perfectly poised manner through a set of doors.

"I take it you haven't met the stupid human yet," Minerva said.

"Um, no," I replied. "What makes her stupid?"

"She's a human!" she exclaimed, as though that was perfect justification. "You're an elf, so you should know."

"I'm mostly human, though," I said.

A woman who looked to be slightly younger than Tabatha burst through the door. She had hair that was such a dark blue it was almost black, and eyes that looked to be about the same color. She was wearing a bright pink dress, and although she was an older woman, she was almost dressed like a kid.

She pointed a finger at Minerva.

"_You!_" she shouted. "How dare you waste food like that?!"

"Look who's talking," Minerva shot back.

"I said I wanted Tabatha to cook for me!" the woman yelled. "Not you!"

"I was just giving her a break!" Minerva protested.

The older woman snapped her head, but saw me in the process.

"Who are you?" she asked in a disgusted voice. "Why are you wearing that ugly boot? Ugh, and those clothes! They're awful!"

"I'm Ria," I said, trying to be polite. "Are you Bianca?"

"I am," Bianca declared. "Miss Bianca de Sainte-Coquille."

I froze. I knew that before Leann got married to Aaron, she had the same last name. I hoped that Bianca didn't know me.

"Do you…have any relatives in Alvarna?" I asked.

"I think so," Bianca replied. "There was a dad, and he had two kids. Jack and Rose, or something like that."

_Max and Rosalind! _I thought.

"I don't want to think about them, though," Bianca said, turning her nose slightly in the air. "They were horrible little brats. Except for their clothes. I didn't know children could be so well-dressed."

I looked over, and noticed that Tabatha was standing nearby.

"They're not children anymore, Miss Bianca," Tabatha said gently. "I believe they have children of their own now."

"And grandchildren," I said without thinking.

"What was that?" Tabatha asked.

"Nothing," I replied.

"All right," Tabatha said, sounding slightly confused. She turned back to Bianca. "Last I heard, Cecilia started working for them."

_Dear God, _I thought. _How do they know Cecilia?!_

I decided that the mansion was a dangerous place to be.

"Well," I said quickly. "I have to go. I have a job to do. Bye!" I practically darted out the door.

I looked around, and was surprised to see Juniper and Ella. They were throwing rocks at a house and giggling. An old man wearing a shirt that showed his huge muscles came out of the house. I noticed that he looked strangely like Sebastian. Juniper and Ella stopped throwing the rocks, and stared up at the old man, who seemed to be getting angrier by the second.

"What is this?" he demanded. "Are you trying to piss me off?"

"Sorry, Brodik," Juniper said. "We couldn't catch the people throwing the rocks. We tried, though!"

"I'm not going to fall for that trap!" Brodik shouted. He laughed cruelly. "I'm going to kill you kids!" Juniper and Ella ran away screaming, and Brodik laughed again.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when Sebastian came out of the same house.

"Hey, Gramps!" he shouted. "Where's the hammer?"

"Don't 'gramps' me!" Brodik yelled right back at him. "You call me 'sir', you little punk! Remember?"

"No," Sebastian replied. "I don't. Maybe it's because you _won't give me the freakin' hammer!_"

"_You're dead!_" Brodik shouted.

"Shut up!" Sebastian yelled. He then changed his expression to a calmer one. "We have an incredibly gorgeous visitor." I felt my heart start pounding.

"Is this the chick you told me about?" Brodik asked.

"Don't call her a chick, Gramps," Sebastian ordered. He sauntered over to me. "What's up?"

"Leona sent me to go get some turnip seeds," I replied. "She must be waiting for me, though."

"I'll walk you over there," Sebastian said, smiling at me.

"Okay," I replied.

He took my hand, and the butterflies in my stomach started acting up more than they ever had in all my life. Even though it was a short walk, I wanted to savor every minute of it.

As Sebastian and I walked, we were silent. I just stared at him, and I could tell he knew it. I noticed that Hugh and Helena were sitting on a bench, Helena's head rested on Hugh's shoulder.

"Christ," Sebastian muttered. "Could you two get any more disgusting?" They ignored him, and continued their little cuddle-fest.

_I think it's cute, _I thought.

We walked into the shop, where there was an older man standing at the counter.

"Hey, young man!" he exclaimed. Sebastian stopped dead in his tracks.

"Grandpa," he said. "You know my name. Don't give me that 'young man' crap."

"Oh," Sebastian's grandfather replied. "It's isn't crap. You _are_ a young man after all!" He looked over at me. "Ah, hello. I'm Erik. You must be Ria! You're looking much better. Of course, we've never met, but Lara told me you were in quite a state when she first met you." He placed his hands on the counter. "Now then, what would you like?"

"Turnip seeds," I replied. "They're for Raguna, not me." The amount of energy Erik had for someone his age was almost scary.

Erik rummaged through some boxes and bins, and finally, placed a bag of turnip seeds on the counter.

"Here you are," he said cheerfully. I handed him the money that Leona had given me. "That Raguna. He knows how hard it is to find turnip seeds in the fall. Especially in this mess. He's always looking to make extra money."

"There's nothing very wrong with that," a woman said, emerging from what looked like a kitchen. She was wearing a blue and gold dress with a long skirt. "Raguna has a family to support, especially with that grandbaby on the way. And you, sir, should be supporting your family as well. Why don't you just go into the dungeons and plant some seeds there?" Erik laughed nervously.

"Well," he said. "You know how I feel about monsters." The woman looked over at me.

"Oh, Ria!" she exclaimed, though still keeping her voice somewhat quiet. "You look wonderful. Have you been feeling all right?" She paused. "Oh dear. I suppose you don't remember me, what with that bump on your head. I'm Lara."

"Oh," I said. "Nice to meet you for real. And…thanks for saving my life."

"Any time," she replied. "Just try not to get hurt again. I always worry."

A woman with copper hair about the same color as Lara's, and brown eyes stepped out from where Lara had been.

"Mom," she said. "I need some help with the…is that Ria?"

"Yes," Lara replied. She turned to me. "This is my daughter, Luna."

_Jeez, _I thought. _Sebastian doesn't look like anyone in his family. Except for Brodik, and-_

"Luna!" someone shouted from outside. A man who looked exactly like Sebastian came through the front door.

"No need to yell, Rex," Luna said. "What do you need?"

"Just wondering when dinner would be ready," Rex replied. He looked over at Sebastian. "Hey dumbass, aren't you supposed to be helping your grandfather?"

"It's a term of endearment for them," Luna told me.

I realized that once again, I had gotten distracted from my errand.

"I should probably go back to the house," I said. "They must be waiting for me, and-"

The door opened again, and we all turned around. I gasped as I saw that the person standing in the doorway was Gunie.

"You didn't have to hunt me down," I told him. "I can do things on my own."

"I wasn't here for _you_," Gunie replied disdainfully. "I have some business here. Why would I care about you?" Sebastian began to march toward him, his fist raised in the air.

"Sebastian," Luna said. "Put that down _now._" Sebastian sighed, but did as she said.

"I'll deal with _you _later," he told Gunie.

"Anyway," Lara said. "You're right on time. Come to the back, and we'll talk."

"All right," Gunie said. They began to walk to a door, and when they got there, Lara opened it. They went inside, and shut the door behind them.

"I should get going," I said. "I really don't want them to think I got lost or something."

"All right," Sebastian said. I turned around, and started to walk out the door, but Sebastian caught me by the arm.

"What?" I asked, trying to suppress a smile that was creeping onto my face.

"You know you can hang out here anytime," he told me.

"I know," I replied. He let go of my arm a little, but only so he could kiss my hand.

"Bye now," he said.

"Bye," I said, trying not to explode from excitement.

I hurried out the door, and once I was outside, I twirled around in a circle with my hands over my heart. I felt like I needed to sing! I usually considered myself an intelligent person that didn't turn stupid over guys, but I figured that love could change anything about anyone.

**Aw...Arianna's in love! Or is she?**

**Yeah, just another chapter to try and introduce some more characters and OCs. The Brodik scene made me laugh, but that's just because I'm a dork.**

**Also, I've posted the first chapter of Teenage Stupidity to my SoundCloud account! It'll be available for download that way, too. Check out my blog (on my homepage) for the posting!  
**


	14. A Little Girl's Woes

I ran home, almost falling on my face several times from tripping over my boot. I burst through the door, trying not to smile and laugh like the stupid teenager I had somehow become.

"Ria!" Ella exclaimed. "Did you get lost?"

"I'm sorry," I said. "No, I didn't get lost."

"You're blushing," Ella commented.

"I know," I replied.

Leona came down the stairs.

"You're back," she said to me. "I take it you had a little trouble finding the farm?"

"No," I replied. "I just got stuck talking to people."

"Oh, wonderful!" Leona said happily. I handed her the turnip seeds. "Look at your face. Your cheeks are as red as tomatoes! Did you get sunburned while you were out there?"

"I'm fine," I said.

"I also meant to ask," Leona said. "Did Gunie make it to his appointment all right?"

"Yeah," I replied. "He tried to start a fight with Sebastian, but Luna was able to stop it."

"I know what's going on!" Ella exclaimed. "When Ria said Sebastian's name, she made a big smile!" Right as she said that, Raguna and Leif came inside from their work outside.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"It means you _love _him," Ella replied. "Say it again!"

"Sebastian," I said. Even though I was trying not to, I smiled.

"I've seen that look before," Raguna muttered, and looked at Leona. "You were twelve, Leona, and Doriane told you-"

"That Leif had said I was pretty," she finished. "I know."

"All right," I said, turning to Ella. "Say Juniper's name, and we'll see if it works."

"Okay," Ella said. "Juniper." At first, she didn't do anything, but then, she giggled and smiled.

"You're about twenty years too young for that," Leif told her.

"I knew it!" Ella exclaimed. "I knew we were meant to be together! I'm going to have to ask him out!" She ran off toward her room.

"Wonderful," Raguna said. "Eight years old, and already interested in boys."

"I was interested in boys when I was eight," Leona protested.

I knew that their conversation wasn't going anywhere too interesting, so I decided to go back to Ella's room, which we were sharing. I opened the door, and saw Ella on the floor with a crayon in her hand, staring at a blank piece of paper.

"Ria?" she asked, looking up at me. "I'm writing a letter to Juniper, but I don't want him to know it's from me? Have you ever written a love letter before?"

"No," I said with a laugh. "I haven't. But why do you want to make it anonymous? He'll kn-"

"Anona-what?" Ella asked, furrowing her brow.

The door burst open.

"Are you stupid?" Gunie's voice asked. I turned to see that he was standing right in the doorway. "Anonymous means that you're keeping your identity hidden. Why are you writing a love letter anyway?"

"You know," I said. "You need to stop acting like this! She's eight years old. Let her write what she wants!"

"Are you my mother now?" he asked.

"Stop it, Gunie!" Ella shouted.

"Don't call me that, you little brat!" Gunie protested.

"What did Ria ever do to you?" Ella asked. Gunie scowled. "That's right. Nothing. So why don't you go back to your shrink if you can't change?"

Gunie's face turned bright red, and I wasn't sure if it was from embarrassment, anger, or both.

"A shrink?" I asked.

"Mind your own business," Gunie replied, less aggressively than I had ever heard him speak.

"Only if you mind yours," I shot back. To my surprise, he turned around and started to walk away without a single word. Or so I thought.

"By the way," Gunie said. "I heard you and Sebastian are planning on going out. If you think _I_ need a therapist, just wait and see what happens to you." With that, he left.

"He doesn't even know what he's talking about," Ella said.

"Why does he see a therapist?" I asked promptly.

"I'm not really supposed to talk to anyone about it," Ella said. "But Lara is his doctor for that. I had to be there one time, and I listened at the door. It was really boring, though. All they did was talk."

_Well, _I thought sarcastically. _That helps._

"I just don't get it," Ella muttered, deciding to draw on the blank paper instead of writing a love letter. "I still listen to them sometimes. I can't really hear what they're saying, but I always wonder a bunch of things."

"Like what?" I asked.

"I don't know," she replied. "I just wonder why he's so mean around everyone, but when he talks to Lara, he cries." She paused. "I heard a story about him. When my great-grandparents, Dad's parents, died, they say Gunie didn't even cry. He was only five." She sighed heavily. "They say that's when they realized that he didn't like to show his feelings anymore. I don't know about you, but I cried a lot when I was five. I still cry a lot. I don't know what it would feel like not to be able to cry. To be ashamed of something, but you can't tell anyone about it." She gasped, and her eyes got wide. "But I've said too much! Everyone's going to get mad at me…"

"Don't worry," I said. "I won't tell."

I looked away, and thought about what Ella had told me. Although she didn't act like it, she cared a lot about Gunie, and worried about him. I knew that was too much for a little girl to carry on her shoulders. And for some reason, I thought of Gunie, and felt…sad.

"Ella," I said. "You think about your brother a lot, don't you?"

"Well," she replied. "I have to. He lives in the house as me."

"No," I said. "Not like that. I mean, I can tell you really care a lot about him. Is that true? And you worry about him. It must be really hard."

Without any warning, Ella threw her arms around me and started to cry. I didn't know what to do.

"Oh my God!" I cried. "I'm so sorry!"

"No," Ella said through her tears. "You didn't do…anything wrong. It's…it's just nice t-to know th-that…someone understands me."

Leona walked past the door, but then came back.

"Ella?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

"We're talking about girl stuff," Ella replied.

"I see," Leona said with a gentle smile. "I'll leave you alone, then."

"I didn't want to tell her," Ella replied, letting go of me and wiping her nose. "Because I would get in trouble for starting gossip."

"I don't really like gossip," I said. "So there's no need to worry about me. And…anytime you want to talk, just let me know." I had never been a touchy-feely person, but something about Ella made me feel a little differently.

"Anyway," she said. "Back to my letter. What do you think I should write to him?"

"I don't know," I replied. "Just tell him how you feel about him. But nothing that'll scare him."

"Like if I talk about monsters?" she asked.

"Not like that," I said with a laugh. "I mean, don't talk about getting married."

"Oh," Ella said. "So nothing about love."

"Well," I said. "Probably not. He's nine years old, and nine-year-old boys tend to be afraid of commitment. Maybe you should make it a friend letter or something like that."

"What's that?" she asked.

"You know," I said. "Just tell him what a great friend you think he is. He might actually like that."

"Okay!" Ella said cheerfully. She started to write on another blank piece of paper. "You're really smart, Ria. I wish I could be just like you."

I didn't know what to say. Nobody had ever thought of me as a good example. In fact, they thought just the opposite.

_If Mom and Dad knew this, _I thought. _If they knew that there's an eight-year-old girl who wants to be just like me, they would have no idea what happened! _I suddenly felt like crying. _Mom and Dad..._

"You don't want to be like me," I told her. "And I think I'm going to leave you to your letter. I know you can do it." I got up from the floor slowly, and started to walk away.

As soon as I left, though, I gasped. I hadn't expected to see Gunie leaning against the wall right outside the door.

"What?" he asked.

"Do you always have to do that?" I asked. "And what are you doing here?"

"This is my house," he replied. For some reason, though, he didn't have the slightest hint of disrespect in his voice.

"Huh," I said, faking indifference, even though I was still really surprised.

He was looking at his shoes, and his glasses seemed to be close to falling on the ground. It was almost as though I was looking at an entirely different person.

"Why are you still here?" he asked.

"I don't know," I replied. "Just trying to figure out what's wrong with you." He looked taken aback, and as he lifted his head, his eyes suddenly got very wide. After that, though, he turned his attention back to the floor.

For a few seconds, there was absolute silence. Gunie eventually looked up from the floor, and changed his deadpan face so it was facing the wall.

"That's none of your concern," he finally said.

I decided to leave him alone, but I still had questions. I was more confused than I had ever been in my life. Well, maybe not, but it was still pretty strange. To hear Gunie use a voice with no insolence in it, even though I didn't know him too well, was unbelievable.

I shouldn't have cared at all, but for some reason, I did. More than ever, I wanted to find out what the Sadness was.

**Yeah...filler chapter?**

**Well, not really. I really wanted to display the effect that Gunie has on Ella. After all, having a screwed up older sibling, especially with such an age difference, can screw a kid up. I guess Gunie and Ella are no different.**

**I also wanted to use this chapter to put out a little more info on Gunie. Don't worry, he's not bipolar, even though it may sound like it at this point.**

**Oh yeah, and some foreshadowing was also thrown in.  
**

**And if you haven't checked out the Teenage Stupidity readings, go now! I worked really hard on them.  
**


	15. Sadness and Songs

The next day at school, I found it hard to focus on class, what with Sebastian to stare at. Half of my mind was thinking of him, and the other half was wondering about Gunie's behavior the day before.

"Ria," Anette said. "Are you feeling all right? You look as though you're half asleep."

"Oh," I replied. "I'm just-"

I cut myself off. On one hand, I could have stayed in class and been bored, but if I said I was sick, I would have to go and see Lara.

_She might be able to tell me about the Sadness! _I thought.

"I just have a little headache," I said finally. "I think if I could just get some medicine from Lara, I-"

"Of course," Anette replied. "You need to keep checking on that sort of thing, what with that concussion. How long has it been since that happened?"

"Not too long," I replied, even though I thought that two weeks or so was plenty of time to get over a concussion. "I'll go."

As I walked to the South District, I couldn't help but think that what I was doing was wrong. I had never considered that before, even after all the times I had skipped class back in Alvarna. But that time, at least, I wasn't going just to drink or smoke. I was going for a good reason.

God, smoking. I missed it. The general crankiness from the withdrawal had worn off, but I got hungry very easily. It was probably just a substitution, but I denied myself the luxury of overeating. I was a guest, first of all, and second, I didn't want to start getting fat. I didn't have too much clothing, even Leona had loaned me some from when she was younger.

When I got to Erik's house, I knocked on the door and waited. Lara opened the door, and looked surprised.

"Ria?" she asked. "Shouldn't you be in school right now?"

"Anette sent me here," I replied. "I have kind of a headache, but it's almost gone now."

"Oh my," Lara said. "Well, I'll take a look at you anyway. Come inside."

I followed her into the house, and back to what I guessed was her examination room.

"I'll just need to find the right one," she said quietly as she began to dig through a drawer. She eventually pulled out a small bottle of a purple substance. "Here, drink this. It should make you feel a little better."

"Okay," I said. She handed me the bottle, and I drank from it. "Wow, that actually didn't taste too bad."

"Yes," Lara said. "It's not too strong of a medicine. Now, off you go. You don't want to miss too much class."

"Actually," I said. "I have a few health-related questions."

"Of course," she said. "You've come to the right person. What's your question?"

"Well," I said. I had to come up with a good lie. "I know someone…a friend back home. He was diagnosed with a medical condition shortly before my mom died, and I want to know more about it. The Sadness, I think it was called."

Lara turned around to face me, with a sad but horrified expression on her face.

"That's a serious condition," she said.

"But what is it?" I asked.

"Let's sit down," she said.

"O-Okay," I stammered.

There were two chairs in the corner of the room, and we both sat down.

"The meaning of the Sadness is usually quite clear to most people," Lara explained. "But I suppose someone your age isn't too conscious of medical conditions. Basically, the Sadness is a condition that makes someone feel sad all or most of the time. It can manifest itself in many different ways, but the most common ways are usually through excessive crying, antisocial behavior, or insecurity. This can sometimes come off as simply being mean. Usually, someone suffering from the Sadness will have some herbs and pills to take for it, but there is still no cure."

I was puzzled. _That _was the serious illness?

"Is it fatal?" I asked.

"It depends on how you look at it," Lara replied. "On one hand, it's not like a severe wound or cancer where it kills you in a certain amount of time, but it _is _a dangerous condition to have. Obviously, being too sad is never good for anyone, and it can lead to suicide."

"S-Suicide?!" I asked. "Really?" The condition had seemed like it wasn't so bad, but that phrase made me regret those thoughts.

"Yes," she replied. "In most cases, though, suicide is extreme. Most of the time, the person will be sad, angry, or both. They may also think a lot about death, which is never a healthy thing to do."

I shuddered, wondering what that must have felt like. No wonder Gunie acted the way he did.

"I should…go back to school," I said. "Don't want to keep Anette waiting."

"All right, dear," Lara said. "If you have any other questions, feel free to ask."

I left the house, and walked back to school. It looked to be about lunchtime, because everyone was sitting outside. I spotted Sebastian in the graveyard right away, and went up to him.

"Hey," he said. "I brought your lunch outside for you. Figured you'd need it." I smiled at him.

"That was very sweet of you," I said.

"How's the headache?" he asked.

"It didn't exist," I replied. "I just wanted to get out of class."

"Oh," he said. "So now I don't have to excuse to do this." He leaned in, and kissed me on the forehead. I could feel my face turn red.

"Well," I said, trying to suppress giggles. "I guess you like taking things at a quicker pace."

"Is that okay?" he asked.

"Yeah!" I replied, laughing.

"So I can do this?" he asked. That time, the kiss landed right on my mouth.

"Wow," I said.

Suddenly, someone started shouting.

"You goddamn hypocrite!" Gunie called from where he was sitting. Sebastian quickly let go of me, and stood up. He started over toward Gunie with his fists clenched.

For some odd reason, I started to panic. Normally, I wouldn't have cared, but after hearing about the Sadness and suicide, I couldn't help but think about the effect that getting beaten up would have on Gunie, even if it was for the millionth time in his life.

I got up and ran toward Sebastian, who looked as though he was about to punch Gunie with all his might.

"Sebastian," I said, trying to take his hand, but getting his wrist instead. "Maybe you-" He cut me off by moving his arm so quickly it almost sent me flying, and looking back at me.

"Stay out of this," he said, with a completely different tone than before. The look in his eyes seemed almost like that of an animal, almost crazed. It was another side of Sebastian, and I never wanted to see it again.

The fight was on. Gunie, who looked enraged for some reason, threw the first punch that time, but Sebastian caught his fist, and twisted his arm. Gunie started to cry out in pain, and for a few seconds, I was afraid Sebastian would break his arm. Since I didn't know him too well, I didn't quite know what he was capable of.

Suddenly, Helena came marching up to Sebastian. Her expression, which was usually pleasant, had changed to one of pure anger. She grabbed Sebastian by his hair, and he immediately stopped twisting Gunie's arm.

"Let go of him," Helena demanded. "If you break his arm, you're going to be in bigger trouble than you've _ever_ imagined." Sebastian sighed, but eventually let go of Gunie's arm.

When it was time to go back to class, I thought of what Sebastian had done. It was true that Gunie had provoked him, but I didn't think it was enough for him to try and break his arm. As we worked in the kitchen, though, Sebastian constantly flirted with me, and I couldn't help but go back to liking him.

The rest of the day flew by, and as we started walking home, I saw Gunie go the other way.

"Where are you headed?" I asked him.

"Grandpa wanted me to get some firewood," he replied. I noticed right away that the disdain for me was back in his voice. "I'll be along later." I frowned, not quite sure what to make of it.

When Ella and I got home, we both went to her room.

"Will you help me with my Elvish homework?" she asked right away. "You're really good at it."

"You've been taking it longer than I have," I pointed out. "But I'll try the best I can to help you."

The moment I started helping Ella, I realized that she really _was _struggling. It took a little while for her to get the grammar that we had been working on, but she eventually got it. Of course, I had to do my own homework as well. That didn't take as long, but I still managed to get a little stir crazy.

"I'm going to take a walk," I said to Ella. "It's probably a good thing for me to do, just so I can get some strength back in my leg."

"Okay!" she replied. "Have fun!"

I left the house, and looked around. I decided to go somewhere I hadn't been before, so I went down a path that was opposite the one that went to the South District. As I walked that way, I saw how pretty it was. There was green everywhere, and in the middle, there a little house with a pond next to it.

_Trampoli's such a cute little town, _I thought. _So peaceful._

Right after I thought that, the sound of someone crying out in pain came from behind me. I quickly turned around, but didn't see anything. I heard the sound again, but that time, I noticed something.

At first, it looked like a deep hole, but when I examined it, I saw that it was lined with stone, and had a staircase leading down it. I knew I was hurt, but whoever was down there seemed to be in a lot of trouble, so I went down the stairs.

I had never seen anything like it. I could tell it was a dungeon, even though I couldn't see any monsters. I started to walk through it, trying to see if there was anyone around. I heard the sound again, but it seemed to be a lot louder.

_I'm getting closer, _I thought.

I rounded a corner, and gasped upon seeing Gunie, who was moving very slowly despite the fact that he was surrounded by monsters.

"Ria!" he cried.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked.

"Later," he replied. "I've already gotten the gate. My sword is over there." I looked in the corner of the room, and saw a broadsword.

"Are you crazy?" I asked. "I can't use this thing!"

"It's a broadsword!" he shouted, obviously pretty irritated. "Just get these damn things!"

I walked over to the broadsword, and picked it up. I had never used a sword before, since Mom never allowed it, so I had never realized how heavy they were. I clumsily swung the blade, trying to avoid hitting Gunie. Luckily, the monsters disappeared with only a few hits each, and eventually, they were gone. Since I wasn't used to the exercise, I bent over, and breathed heavily.

Gunie attempted to walk over to me, but was obviously having trouble moving.

"Paralysis," he muttered. "It should wear off in a few minutes. I also didn't pack any Para-Gone, and I'm sealed at the moment, so no magic right now. That's what's going on." He paused. "What's up with you?"

"Just…not used to…that," I replied.

"Oh, yeah," he said. "Asthmatic. I forgot." I took a deep breath, and after that, I was able to go back to normal.

"You didn't say what you were doing down here," I said.

"Neither did you," he replied. I frowned. "You _do _realize it's stupid to go down into a dungeon when you can't even use a sword, don't you?"

"Hey," I said. "Don't be telling me what's stupid. I just saved your ass." He looked down at the floor.

"Let's just go back up," he said. "And don't come down here again until you know how to fight." He turned around and started to walk, but I noticed that the back of his shirt was torn, and blood was seeping through.

"You're bleeding," I told him.

"Yeah," he said. "What's it to you?"

"Sit," I told him. "I carry some extra bandages around for that gash on my leg." He hesitantly sat down, and I took some fresh bandages out of my pocket, and started to unravel them. I looked at him.

"What?" he asked.

"You're going to have to take your shirt off," I said.

"What?!" he cried, his eyes suddenly getting wide. "H-Hell no!"

"Do you want an infection that could potentially kill you?" I asked. He sighed, and slowly started to take his shirt off.

For being as small and skinny as he was, he wasn't scrawny at all. I mean, he was no Sebastian in terms of fitness, but he wasn't as weak as he looked when he was fully clothed. But for some reason, he still had his gloves on.

"Don't stare at me," he demanded, throwing his shirt aside. "And make it quick."

"All right," I said. I sat down on the cold, damp floor, and started to bandage him up. He winced as I wrapped the bandage around his wound.

"That stings," he commented.

"I bet," I replied.

"I could have fixed it myself," he muttered. "If only I hadn't been sealed…I could have used that spell."

"You know about magic?" I asked.

"Of course I do," he snapped. "I can _use _it. I'm an Earthmate."

I froze, and thought of the song Dad always sang to us.

"I know a song in their language," I said immediately.

"Which one?" he asked.

"I don't know," I replied.

"Well," he said in an annoyed tone. "How does it go?"

I didn't want to sing in front of him, since he was such a jerk. I usually didn't even sing for people I liked, but for some reason, I started singing the song. As soon as the song was over, though, Gunie's eyes got wide.

"Take the bandage off," he told me.

"What?" I asked.

"Do I need to say it twice?" he asked. I sighed, but took the bandage off.

I looked at his back again, expecting to see a wound, but instead, I didn't see anything. I blinked, and scooted back.

"What happened?" I asked.

"You just sang a healing song," he replied. "And it worked. So you're an Earthmate?"

"I don't know!" I cried. I had no idea what was going on.

"Only Earthmates can do that," he said. "So that means you're one of them."

"I don't even know what that means," I said with a heavy sigh.

"Basically," he said. "You can work the land better than most, and you can use magic. But I'd say you're a pretty direct descendent, judging by the way you just fixed that wound."

"Speaking of that," I said. "Shouldn't we get out of here?"

"I guess," he replied.

He started to get up from his seated position, taking his shirt with him. I could tell the paralysis hadn't worn off, until he started to walk. The minute he brought one foot off the ground, he somehow lost his balance and fell, almost on his face.

"Hate…goddamn monsters," he grunted. I couldn't help but laugh.

"You seem to have a knack for getting hurt," I commented. I couldn't believe myself. For once, I was laughing around him, and not being irritated.

However, that phrase made him angry. He got up, and glared up at me.

"Half of the time," he said. "It's not my fault." He pulled his shirt on, and started to storm off, but he stopped in his tracks and turned to face me. "And if you tell Amy about this…_any _of this, you're going to be really sorry."

_Back to his old self, _I thought as he walked away. Eventually, I decided to follow him back to the surface and go home.

**Longer chapter = good.**

**Um, yeah. I'm exhausted, so I don't have too terribly much to say, other than to keep checking out the readings. The links are on my DeviantArt, but also on my blog, which is listed as my homepage on here. Have fun!  
**


	16. Dear Diary

The weather had started to get chillier out, and it had really turned into fall. It made me want to take more walks around town, and eventually, it became a routine of mine. Things also got a lot easier when Lara told me that my ankle was healed, and I was able to take off all the bandages and the heavy boot.

My relationship with Sebastian was also getting more serious. I could tell he really cared about me, since he was always trying to protect me. Sometimes, he was even a little overprotective, but I didn't mind.

Our usual hangout spot had also changed to Lake Poli, so we would be left alone.

"I don't like how much you've been talking to that brat," Sebastian said one day when we were at the lake.

"You mean Gunie?" I asked. I decided to make a joke out of it. "I don't really like it either." He looked at me, and I saw that his face was more serious than I had ever seen it.

"I'm not kidding," he said. "He's not a nice guy, and you shouldn't talk to him as much as you do." He put his arm around me. "I just don't want you to get hurt."

"Hurt?" I asked. It was pretty surprising to hear. After all, Gunie lost every fight with Sebastian since I had met the two of them.

"We don't need to talk about that, though," he said. "I didn't mean to scare you. Just stay away from-"

"Ria?" a voice asked from behind us. I recognized it right away as Gunie's voice.

Sebastian let go of me, and stood up. As I turned around, I saw that he was directly in front of Gunie's face.

"What do you want, you little punk?" he asked.

"Nothing from you," Gunie replied. It was then that I noticed something unusual: Gunie, although he was obviously trying not to, was shaking like a leaf.

"You scared?" Sebastian asked in a mocking tone of voice. "You should be."

"My mom wanted me to come here to get Ria," Gunie said. "We're having dinner soon."

"Fine," Sebastian spat. I got up slowly, feeling a little scared myself. I had never seen Sebastian so aggressive, and I had never seen Gunie look so terrified.

We began the walk home. It was just starting to get dark out, and it didn't seem as calm as it usually did. We didn't say a word, and Gunie wouldn't stop shaking.

"It isn't that cold," I said. He didn't respond. "Is something wrong?"

"He…didn't hit me," Gunie said finally. His voice was so soft that I could barely hear him.

"Isn't that a good thing?" I asked. He stopped in his tracks.

"Tell me," he said, turning to face me. "Did you believe that? Any of that bullshit, did you believe it?_ Did you?_"

"I don't know!" I shouted back. After that, there was silence. "You're acting so weird, Gunie. I don't really know what to think." A few more seconds passed, also in silence.

"Let's just go home," he said finally.

The walk back wasn't too bad in terms of distance, but the fact that Gunie was angrier than I'd ever seen him made the walk a lot less pleasant.

"Where were you?" Leona asked when we got inside the house. Gunie didn't answer, so I felt as though I had to.

"I was down by the lake," I replied.

"Well," Mist said as she walked by with some plates full of food. "Come eat while it's still hot!"

Gunie bit his lip and went straight for his room, but Raguna stood up and stopped him.

"Going somewhere?" he asked.

"To my room," he replied.

"Let him go, Dad," Leona said sadly. Raguna looked puzzled, but let his grandson go off to his room.

"Did something happen?" Leif asked me, once Gunie was gone.

"I don't exactly know," I replied, sitting down at the table. "He was acting really strange from the time he picked me up to the time we got here."

"He can be so strange," Mist said. "I hope he wasn't rude."

"No," I lied. "He wasn't."

We ate dinner, and although there was conversation going on around me, I didn't participate. I was too busy thinking about what happened at the lake, trying to recall everything. I couldn't figure out why Gunie was so terrified of Sebastian, and just that one time. He never acted so scared when they fought at school, and I honestly didn't know what had happened, even though I had seen it with my own eyes.

After dinner, Ella and I went back to our room. I sat on my bed, while Ella colored on the floor.

"Look," she said, finally getting up. She held one of her drawings up. "It's a wooly. Do you like it?"

"It's very good," I replied.

"I know Gunie yelled at you," she said. "But don't worry! He yells at a lot of people. He has trouble expressing his feelings."

"I've noticed," I said.

"Maybe this will make you feel better," she whispered. She skipped over to her bed, and started to rummage under it. She finally pulled out a small, leather-bound book.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Read it," Ella said, handing it to me. "I took it just for you."

I opened the book, and read it:

_I don't really know what kind of "greeting" I should give. "Dear diary" would make me sound like a girl, and I can't think of anything else, so I'll just write._

_My name is Raguna, but nobody calls me that. I'm always called by a nickname I was given as a baby…_

"Ella!" I exclaimed, shutting the book. "You shouldn't have taken that!"

"I thought it would make you feel better," Ella said. "To know what he's really thinking. He's very hard to read, you know."

"I just don't think it's right," I replied. "You really should put it back where you found it."

"Just read this part," Ella said. I shook my head. "Just this one little part! Please?"

"All right," I said. I hesitantly opened Gunie's diary again.

"I marked the page," Ella said. "See? There's a little sticker coming out of the top."

"I see it," I replied, flipping to the page. I began to read again.

_Today, Grandma told us that some girl had collapsed on our doorstep in the middle of the night, and that she would be staying with us for a while. Grandpa fought her on it, but she won in the end._

_At breakfast, I got to see her. I acted pretty rude, so she must think I'm an asshole. I even called her ugly, but it was only because Mom tried to tease me. I couldn't think of anything else to say._

_I'd really like to be friends with her, but I really don't know how I would. I'm so awkward, except for when I'm at school. Nobody ever truly likes me, either. I have to come to them. It was that way with Amy, and I'm starting to get the feeling that she's gotten tired of me already._

_Sometimes, I just feel so alone._

Underneath those words, there were four vertical lines, as though he had been keeping score of something.

"Turn the page," Ella said. "This is where it gets interesting." I did as she said.

I gasped. On the next page, there was a drawing, and it was possibly even better than any of Tristan's. The central figure was a little boy, who was on the ground, but in a position as though he had been knocked over. Then, I saw another figure off in the corner of the page, but it was hard to make out. It looked like another boy, about the same age as the one in the center, but all I could see were his legs, and an arm with a fist. Next to the little boy on the ground was a shattered pair of glasses. His expression was terrified, and there were tears streaming down his face. I noticed some writing at the bottom of the page that said, "First Day of School".

That was enough explanation for me, and I shut the book.

"It's not colored," Ella said. "But that little boy on the ground should have brown hair and blue eyes."

"Who's the other boy?" I asked.

"I don't know for sure," Ella replied. "But I think it's Sebastian. I mean, Hugh wouldn't beat anyone up, and Isidore would be too scared that he would get hit."

"He must have been about five," I said softly. I recalled Ella's words about Gunie not crying when his great-grandparents died.

"_He was only five."_

I suddenly felt conflicted. On one hand, Sebastian and I were in a relationship, and he had already told me not to talk to him. I didn't want to make him mad. But on the other hand, Gunie had given me the same advice about Sebastian.

As much as I didn't want to, I knew I had to keep reading Gunie's diary to find out more. But for the meantime, I decided to give Sebastian the benefit of the doubt and stay with him.

**Dang, I thought of something really interesting to say with this chapter, but I forgot it.**

**Anyway, keep checking out the readings and my Deviantart. I might also have some new contact information up soon.**

**I've been trying for a while to draw the picture mentioned in this chapter, but I fail. Also, I'm putting up a drawing I finished today of Ella. Why Ella? I have no idea. I've had a Gunie drawing done for some time, but I want it to be full-body, and I suck at that. Of course, I've tried drawing Arianna a million times, and I think that I finally settled on a character design today.**

**Ah, enough of me. Now let's hear from you.  
**


	17. Helena's Warning

Shortly after the leaves started falling, it became cold outside, and the snow also began to fall. Apparently, it was a big deal in Trampoli when it snowed on the last day of fall.

We really got winter's wake-up call one day at the end of the morning classes.

"Today," Anette told us. "Lara has advised me against letting you eat outside. She says that she'd prefer not to have you all at her house with colds and such." There was a collective groan from the class.

"Why is it bad?" Isidore asked. "It _is _cold out there, and I don't want to get sick!"

"Shut up, you whiner," Sebastian said. "God, I'm ashamed to have you as a brother."

"I'm ashamed to have _you _as a classmate," Gunie said. Sebastian snapped his head back in Gunie's direction, a furious expression on his face. He started to get up, and Anette started over to him, but he was interrupted.

"Stop it, Sebastian," Helena said in a cold voice that I had only heard her use with Sebastian. Luckily, he sat back down.

"Class dismissed," Anette said. "You know where to go for lunch."

_I don't, _I thought as I got my lunch out of my desk.

"I'll show you the way," Sebastian said, changing his demeanor. He took my hand, and we started to walk toward a room I hadn't seen before. "This used to be the kitchen for the nuns, but now, it's our bad weather lunch room."

Everyone started to sit down, and Sebastian and I found a corner where we could sit as well. I started eating my lunch, but I didn't really feel like talking for some reason.

"You're awfully quiet," Sebastian said. "Something on your mind?"

"No," I lied. "I just don't have anything important to say." I was really thinking of Gunie's diary, but I didn't want to tell Sebastian that. Again, I didn't want to make him mad.

Sebastian suddenly leaned in very close to me, his mouth right against my ear. It was way past the point of being an uncomfortable situation.

"You can tell me anything," he whispered.

"There's nothing wrong," I protested, but I wasn't feeling like pulling away from him. Luckily, he backed off.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Helena giving me strange look. She didn't seem to be paying much attention to Hugh, as she normally did.

"I have to use the bathroom," she said. She got up from where she was sitting, and walked past me. But as she did, she tapped me on the shoulder when Sebastian wasn't looking.

I wasn't sure what to make of it at first. Was it a mistake, or did she mean something just from that one little tap on the shoulder? I decided I would follow her either way.

"I'm going to use the restroom," I told Sebastian. Before he could say anything to stop me, I left.

The bathrooms were on the side of the church, and I ran right to the door, which I opened quickly. Helena was in front of the sinks, pacing slowly but obviously anxious. She jumped a little as she caught sight of me.

"Oh," she said in her usual, gentle voice. "I'm glad you picked up on that."  
"What's going on?" I asked. She sighed heavily.

"It's about Sebastian," she said finally. "There are…some things you don't know about him. I know this is terrible to say about my own brother, but I wouldn't get too close to him if I were you." She took another deep breath. "I saw the first sign of it years ago, but I thought it was nothing. I was only four years old, but I'll never forget it."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"All those years ago," she said. "Little three-year-old Sebastian somehow captured a chitter. He also stole one of Gramps' knives, and a pair of his gloves. To this day, I don't know how he got those." She looked at me, the horror evident in her eyes. "He gutted it. He gutted it mercilessly, pulling everything out of it. The knife didn't have the Retornen cast on it, either." By that time, I felt as though my eyes were going to pop out of my head.

"W-What?" I asked.

"It gets better," she continued. "Or, should I say 'worse'. On his first day of school, he decided somehow that he didn't like Gunie. During lunch was when it all started. Gunie was playing with the other kids. I remember, he was laughing with them, and I haven't seen him laugh since that day. Anyway, Sebastian turned to me, and said, 'I'm going to knock the crap out of him'. My first instinct was to scold him for his bad language, because I didn't think he would actually do it. But then, I saw him walking over to Gunie, his little fists balled up. I went after him, telling him to stop, but he didn't listen. Sebastian was tall for his age, and very strong. Gunie was a very weak boy who got sick a lot, and at the time, he was even smaller than Isidore." She paused to take a breath, and I could tell she was fighting tears. "When Sebastian made his way over to the group of kids, Gunie invited him to play with them. Sebastian didn't answer, and Gunie shrugged and went back to playing with the other kids. But when he wasn't looking, Sebastian punched him so hard in the face that he lost his balance and fell over. Poor Gunie…he cried so hard that Anette came running out of the school building. But by then, it was too late for her to have seen it." She bit her lip. "This is the really sad part: the next day, at the beginning of school, Gunie wasn't acting like himself. His eyes were narrow, and…well, you know what his face looks like now. It started looking like that the day after Sebastian knocked him down like that."

There were a few seconds of silence as Helena cried.

"I…I'm sorry," I said. I didn't quite know what else to say.

"I didn't mean to go on an on like that," Helena replied. "But, I guess my point is…I don't want you to get hurt. What happened to Gunie…I don't want that to happen to you." She paused. "Hugh can see the spirits around you like crazy. He says that you might be able to help someone, and make them very dear to you, but he says that something like that can't happen if Sebastian hurts you."

"Thank you," I said.

"We should go back to class," she said. "I think it's already started."

We walked back to the classroom, trying to be inconspicuous. I couldn't pay attention at all for the rest of the school day, and barely noticed when Anette let us go home. I absentmindedly got up from my chair, and when Sebastian touched my arm, I jumped a little.

"Hey," I said, trying to remain calm.

"Hey," he replied. "I need to ask you something before we go."

"Sure," I said.

"The Night of Holies is coming up in a few weeks," he told me. "I thought we could go together."

I froze, trying to think quickly. I didn't want to say no, because that would cause him to be suspicious. I didn't want to say yes either, because I didn't want to be alone with him, especially after what I had learned from Helena.

_But maybe, _I thought. _Just maybe…he might confess something._

"All right," I said finally. "I'd love to go." I turned around, trying to leave, but Sebastian grabbed my arm.

"Also," he said. "If my sister told you anything about me, it's a lie. We got into a fight yesterday, so she's been out to get me. So don't believe anything she says."

"O-Okay," I said nervously. "Bye." I walked quickly from the room, and headed back home.

I felt stupid as hell for agreeing to go on the winter date with Sebastian. Not only did I have a really bad feeling about it, but I thought I would be ignoring the advice Helena had given me. I reminded myself that I was doing something that could possibly be noble, and might also help Gunie.

**Just as a little side note, I outlined the rest of this just last night. It's going to be thirty two chapters, which will make it my longest story ever. However, if the chapters end up being too short, I will have to merge some...or just come up with more ideas.**

**Also, I've realized I have a Gerard, a Helena, and a Mikey in this story. Lulz. I'm not Tara Gilesbie, I swear. I'm the non-teenie kind of fan.**

**Um...yeah. Poor lil' Gunie. And Sebastian has a sick mind.**

**Let's just see how sick it gets.  
**


	18. A Very Sudden Realization

During the days – or rather, nights – leading up to my date with Sebastian, I had trouble sleeping. Usually, everyone would go to his or her room at nine, and I would fall asleep shortly after. But one night, I was up way past midnight. Although the house was quiet, I didn't feel calm at all.

On that particular night, it was snowing, and for some reason, it made me think of home. Maybe it was because of all the memories I had of the snowy days back in Alvarna. Tristan would always build snow forts and hide behind them so he could throw snowballs at people. When I looked back on it, I laughed a little, because he made pretty crappy snow forts. Flora would always play with him, but then conflict would arise when she thought it would be funny to crush his snow fort. It took a lot to get Lily to go outside in the snow, but once she was out there, she wouldn't come back inside. Snow angels were her specialty. Of course, Tristan and Flora loved terrorizing her, so when they'd step on her snow angels, she would sit there and cry until Aaron or Leann thought she had broken something. Gerard, I remembered, was a little baby at the time, so he couldn't really participate in the snow-related activities. He was always there, though, when Mom called us inside for hot chocolate and cookies.

For some reason, I had trouble remembering what I did on those days. Suddenly, it dawned on me: I didn't play with the other kids. I just sat there with a little shovel and an old bucket, and dug holes in the snow. When I thought more about it, I _never _played with anyone when I was little.

_I wish I did, _I thought. _Then, maybe I wouldn't be…no! Stop right there!_

When it was nearing one in the morning, I remembered something I usually did back in Alvarna. Most times, when I couldn't sleep, I would read something. I had gotten out of the habit of reading before bed since I had come to Trampoli, but I didn't want to get out of bed to find a book, for fear of waking up the rest of the house.

Then, I remembered that Gunie's diary was under my bed. I felt guilty about reading it again, but I couldn't think of anything better to do. There was a candle on an end table next to my bed, and I felt around for the matchbox. I eventually found it, and lit the candle, quickly putting out the match. The candle had enough light for me to read, but not too much light, which would wake Ella up. I took Gunie's diary out from under my bed, and flipped past the page that Ella had marked. I began to read:

_Today, I listened to Ria and Ella through the door of their room. Ella wanted advice on a love letter she was going to write to Juniper, and Ria was helping her._

_The way she treated Ella was incredible. It was like there's a different side of her that I'd never seen before. She was so…nice._

_I wish I could be like that with Ella. Maybe not so girly, but I'd at least like to be more of an older brother to her. Maybe when the new baby comes, I could have a second chance. But, as usual, I didn't know how to act, and when Ella asked Ria what "anonymous" meant, instead of going in to tell her myself, I barged into the room and acted like a total ass to both of them. Ella told me I should go back to my "shrink", as she so bluntly put it, and Ria asked me about it. Damn, I was embarrassed. I just told her to mind her own business. Then, I warned her about Sebastian, and left the room._

_I cried, quietly of course, but I still stayed outside the room and listened. Ella, being a little kid, told Ria everything that she knew about me and the Sadness. And then, Ria did something I never would have expected: she basically told Ella that she knew how she felt. Ella started bawling, and I tried my best not to do so myself. Mom eventually walked by, but she didn't seem to care that I was eavesdropping._

_Eventually, Ria left the room, but she caught sight of me. I tried not to make eye contact, because I was afraid she would see that I had been crying. Luckily, the hallway was dark. I tried to be rude, but it didn't work. Then, she caught me off guard by saying that she was trying to figure out what was wrong with me. I looked up at her, and eventually told her it was none of her concern. And then she left._

_Call me crazy, but I think what she said to me indicated that she cares about me, even if it's just a little._

_But it was today that I realized why I act so rude to her. It's because I'm in denial. I've tried to tell myself a million times that she's ugly, she's mean, she's nothing like me, et cetera. None of that is true. She's beautiful, and kind, and we have a lot in common. We both have terrible tempers, serious problems, and I'm sure there's more. Even if she doesn't care about me all that much, I care about her a lot. No, I love her._

_I shouldn't, though. I'm not meant to be in any kind of serious relationship. I'd just end up hurting her._

_- Gunie_

_P.S.: As much as I hated that nickname before, I love when she calls me that._

By that time, I felt that my face was bright red, and my heart was pounding. I felt like crying, and I wasn't sure if it was due to feeling conflicted, or the fact that someone had such strong feelings for me.

I started to turn the pages again, but I heard slow footsteps start coming down the hallway. I froze. I didn't think I would get in trouble if I was caught awake, as long as Ella wasn't. My heart, which had managed to slow itself down a little, immediately started back up when I saw who was walking down the hall.

It was different, seeing him that way. He was wearing a white, collarless shirt, and long pants. Neither of them seemed to fit him very well. His glasses were off, but his eyes were almost completely closed. My first instinct was that he was sleepwalking, so I quickly tried to hide the diary under the covers of my bed.

That was a mistake. He must have heard the noise, because he snapped his head in my direction. His eyes suddenly got very wide, and he put his glasses back on, which had been hidden in his hands.

"Why are you still awake?" he asked. "And what are you hiding?" I figured it wouldn't be worth it to say that I wasn't hiding anything, so I sighed, got out of bed, and gave him his diary.

For a few seconds, he just looked down at it. The book was open in his hands, and I inwardly gasped as I realized that the book was open to the page I had been reading. I must have, without knowing it, marked the page with my finger when I handed it to him. I stared down at the words on the page.

_I love her._

I tried to say something, anything that would make the situation less awkward.

"Gunie," I whispered, looking over at Ella to make sure she was still sleeping. "I'm really-"

"Don't," he interrupted. "You've done enough here." He closed the book, and walked away with it.

For some reason, I was able to sleep after that.

**Note: I made a mathematical error that I realized in this chapter, but I don't feel like correcting it. Gerard (Aria and Leonel's middle child) is eleven, not twelve.**

**Anyway, short chapter, lots of diary stuff. I didn't think it needed too much stuff, though. I was going to add in Amy getting mad at Arianna on the subject of Gunie, but she doesn't really know what's going on with them yet. Or is there something going on?**

**-Imagines Gunie in his pajamas-**

**Whoa, major ADD moment there!  
**


	19. Brutality and Blushing

The next several days were awkward as hell. I couldn't even look at Gunie, and he didn't say a word to me. I would try to tell him I was sorry, but the words would seem to get stuck in my throat.

It especially sucked because we were stuck at home for four days. Two of them were due to the snow, and the other two were because of the Night of Holies coming up.

I felt miserable every day leading up to it. I had been alone with Sebastian before, but after hearing about how he tortured monsters as a child was more than a little disconcerting.

_He won't do anything to me, _I thought every time I felt afraid. _He likes me too much._

Finally, it was the day that Sebastian and I would go on our first official date. For some reason, the name of the holiday gave me some comfort. Maybe if it was supposed to be a holy night, something up there would be with me.

That night, I found myself in Ella's room. Usually, when I heard about girls' first dates, I heard all about how excited they felt. Mom had told me about all her dates with Dad, and she always talked about how she would put on makeup and do her hair. I gasped, as something hit me: those were all lies. After all, if Mom had cheated on Dad for my biological father, then Dad probably wouldn't have married her. And as I thought more about it, I would have been less than a year old when they got married.

_They never went on any dates, _I thought angrily.

At that moment, Ella came skipping happily into the room, but she stopped dead in her tracks.

"Ria, look a little mad," she said. "Shouldn't you be getting ready for your date?"

When I heard those words, I could feel the color drain from my face. I was nervous all over again, but I tried to act normally.

"Um, no," I replied. "I'm all right."

"Now you look all pale," Ella commented.

"I'm fine," I said.

"Oh," she said. "Okay. It's almost nine, though, so you should at least get your coat on." She skipped out of the room, humming something that I recognized as being in the key of B minor.

I looked at the clock on the wall and shuddered. It was, like Ella had said, almost nine. I had learned that it was customary for people, specifically couples, to go out at nine on the Night of Holies.

Finally, I left the room and went toward the coat rack by the front door.

"You're still going?" Gunie's voice asked from behind me. I jumped, but regained my composure so I could answer the question.

"Yes," I replied.

There was a brief pause.

"Well," he said, putting his hands in his pockets. "I might as well go with you."

"What?!" I exclaimed.

"Not like that," he said, frowning. "I have to meet up with Amy. And you probably don't know the way."

"Oh," I said. "No, I don't know the way."

"Let's go, then," he said.

We both grabbed our coats, and left.

"Jeez, it's cold," I said, crossing my arms.

"The meeting spot is this way," Gunie said, completely ignoring my last comment. He started to walk away, and I followed him.

"So what exactly do people do on the Night of Holies?" I asked.

"Stand and look at the big tree," he replied. He winced, as though he was in pain, and shook his head. "Why am I even talking to you?" He paused. "And if you tell Amy about what happened the other night, I'll…I'll…" He sighed, as though he couldn't bring himself to threaten me.

The rest of the walk was quiet, and the only sound was that of the snow making crunching noises beneath our feet. Finally, we came to a forest. Amy and Sebastian were there, and off in the distance, I could see Hugh and Helena.

"Finally," Amy said, once she caught sight of Gunie. She grabbed him by the hand, and started dragging him off in the direction of where Hugh and Helena were going.

I was alone with Sebastian.

"Aren't we going to follow them?" I asked.

"Actually," he said. "I thought we could go somewhere a little…quieter. You know, just so they're not bothering us. I was thinking the lake. There's that little island in the middle, with the tree in the middle."

"Okay," I said. I felt sick.

"Good," he said. "Let's go."

We walked to the lake, and my feeling of dread heightened. I was afraid that if I didn't say anything, Sebastian would get mad. When we got there, it was weird. The wind was howling, and it was dark. It was dead quiet all around us.

"We can walk across the lake," Sebastian told me. "It's frozen, so we'll be okay." I nodded, and we started to cross.

For a minute or so, we just stood under the tree in silence.

"You're quiet again," Sebastian commented.

"I just like this place," I replied. "It's very relaxing."

We stayed quiet a little longer, and my heart was beating fast.

"I wanted to ask you something," he said.

"Yeah?" I asked. Despite the cold, I was sweating.

"I was wondering," he said. "If you'd be interested in getting married." I jumped, and my heart started beating faster than I had ever felt it.

"N-No," I replied, backing away a little. "It's too early for that. Sorry."

"What do you mean?" he asked, stepping closer to me.

"We haven't known each other long enough," I replied, the pitch of my voice gradually getting higher. I backed away again, but that time, I was right up against the tree. I tried to go around it, but Sebastian stepped in front of me, putting his arms against the tree in a way that made it almost impossible to escape.

"Well," he said. The look in his eyes was like that of an untamed monster. "Can we at least do it, then?"

"No!" I protested. I tried to shove him away, but he held my arms against the tree.

"Why not?" he asked, a smile creeping onto his face.

"I said _no_!" I shouted. I tried to get my arms free, but it didn't work. "I swear to God, if you don't let me go, I'll-"

"Don't threaten me, you little bitch," he growled. "Face it. You're helpless." He laughed. I spit right in his face, hoping it would be enough to distract him. It was, and I started to run away. But then, he grabbed me by my left arm and twisted it. I heard a crunching sound, and felt incredible pain.

"You just broke my arm!" I cried. Tears started streaming down my face. He shoved me against the tree again, holding me down with one arm while the other undid my blouse.

"That's what you get for messing with me," he told me. I started screaming like I'd never screamed before, hoping that someone would hear me. I couldn't remember the last time I had felt so much pain, both emotional and physical. I started cursing at him, but that just got me a slap in the face every time I said a word. He eventually forced me down on the ground, and I felt as though all hope was gone.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of glass breaking, and Sebastian suddenly let go of me. He fell to the ground, and I gasped. Even though the tears had clouded my eyes, I saw Gunie standing behind him with a broken wine bottle in his hand.

"Get up, Ria!" he shouted frantically. I was so stunned that I didn't move. "_Now!_" I got up from the ground, taking his hand with my right arm.

We began running so fast that everything was a blur. Somehow, I lost my footing, and fell. The next thing I felt was cold water all around me, but Gunie grabbed my non-broken arm and pulled me out. I shivered as we continued to run, and I found it more and more difficult to breathe.

Despite my best efforts, I fell to the ground. It was as though I couldn't move. For the second time since I had been in Trampoli, I felt as though I was going to die.

The last thing I heard before I closed my eyes was Gunie shouting my name, and I knew then that if I did end up dying, I would be happy as long as he was with me.

When I woke up, I looked around. My eyes started to focus, and I realized that I was in front of the fireplace on the main floor of the house.

"I'm not dead!" I exclaimed, trying to sit up. My head started throbbing, though, so I decided to lie back down again. There was also something heavy on my left arm, and I soon figured out that it was a cast.

"You most certainly are not," Mist said from behind me. "You should probably keep your head down, though." I heard her go up the stairs.

I quickly remembered everything that had happened. I looked around, making sure to keep my head on the pillow where it had been. The lights were still on, but as I looked out the window, I saw that the sun was rising.

I heard the sound of someone breathing, and I could tell the source of the sound wasn't too far away. Then, I lifted my head slightly so I could see my feet, and saw that Gunie was sound asleep right there. I wasn't sure what to do. On one hand, he had saved my life, but on the other hand, he was asleep, and I didn't want to wake him up. I eventually stuck my toe out from underneath the blankets, and brushed it against his side. He woke with a start, and looked around.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't mean to wake you up like that." He sat up, and smiled at me.

It was the strangest thing. Not once, in all the time I had known him, had I seen him smile. A smirk was the closest thing anyone seemed to get. But the facial expression he showed me…that was a genuine smile.

"It's all right," he said. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I replied.

There was a pause.

"I guess I won't be using my pillows now," Gunie said. "And you probably don't want to stay lying down like that, so you can have these." He picked up his pillows off the ground, and moved over to me. He signaled for me to lean forward, and then put them behind my head so I was propped up a little more.

"Thanks," I said. "And…thanks a lot for last night, too. You saved my life." He looked taken aback.

"Oh," he said. "No trouble…I mean, it was some trouble, but…um…" His face turned bright red.

"I get what you mean," I said.

"About last night," he said. "And I guess that one night…I'm sorry for the way I acted. I mean, about the first night, when you read my diary. I was just embarrassed. But what it said is…true."

I looked right at him upon hearing those words, and it was obvious that he was staring at me. His cheeks were red, and I could tell that he was nervous, but I knew the words he was trying to say, and they were the same words I said after I figured it out.

"Gunie," I said, looking right into his eyes. Even though his glasses covered them slightly, I could tell his eyes were a beautiful shade of blue. "I love you." His face, which had just started to return to its normal color, turned red again, and I laughed.

"I love you, too," he replied, laughing with me.

We soon stopped laughing, but the blushing didn't fade, especially when he started to lean toward me. He kissed me, but it wasn't like the way I had seen him kiss Amy. It was a gentle kiss, and one that I knew meant he really did love me.

"I knew it from the start," a voice said. We pulled away from each other, only to see Raguna standing in the doorway.

"Grandpa!" Gunie cried, his face turning red again.

"Don't blush like that," Raguna said with a laugh. "You're a man."

"I was aware of that," Gunie said with a nervous laugh. Raguna smiled.

"Glad to see you're back," he said. He then walked past us, and went upstairs.

I tried to prop myself up against the pillows, but my head started throbbing.

"Ow," I muttered.

"Well, what do you expect?" Gunie asked. He paused. "But…I guess you don't really want to talk about that."

I felt tears sting my eyes as I remembered how scared I had been the night before. It was a feeling of helplessness, and if Gunie hadn't been there…

"Oh, God!" he cried. "I didn't mean to-"

"No," I said as the tears started spilling from my eyes. "It's just…I didn't know that anything that terrifying could ever happen to me. And…you saved me. You were there for me." He slowly brought me into a hug, and I cried.

"It's all right," he said. "He won't hurt you anymore."

"How do you know?" I asked.

"He's confined to his room," he replied. "He's also tied up in a straight jacket. There's no way he's getting out. The town is deciding what to do with him, but I don't think it'll be anything good." That made me feel a little better.

As he let go of me I saw that there were dark circles under his eyes.

"I take it you didn't sleep too well," I commented.

"No," he replied. "But it's all right. I was worried about you." I raised an eyebrow.

"Go to sleep," I said.

"What?" he asked.

"Go to sleep," I said. "Or I'll die." He laughed.

"All right," he said. "I will." He kissed me again.

"Good night," I said.

"Good night," he replied. "Or rather, good morning." I listened to his footsteps until they were far away enough that I couldn't hear them anymore.

I continued to lie there in my makeshift bed, and I could feel that the color in my cheeks wasn't going away. But honestly, I didn't want it to.

**Bad joke, Arianna! XD**

**I've been looking forward to this chapter, but not as much as what I have in my outline as Chapter 21! It will include something I am currently calling Arianna's "Sad Boy Speech". Or does "Sad Boy Monologue" sound better? It can't be "Sad Boy Soliloquy", because there are other people "on stage", so to speak. I think I'm just going to call it a speech.**

**Um, yeah, I didn't want her to actually get raped, because that would lead to another set of completely different plot stuff.**

**Also, if you haven't already, you should check out my deviantArt now especially! I just put up a Gunie drawing. Pretty...**

**Ahem. I don't have too much more to say. I'm really tired, and it's only eleven.**

**"This one goes to eleven!"**

**...Nobody's going to get that reference.**


	20. Indecisiveness

A few days later, school started up again. It was depressing, but at least spring was coming up. And luckily, it was a half day.

The town was in the process of deciding what to do with Sebastian. I didn't want to hear too much about it, but unfortunately, I was involved in the situation, so I got frequent updates.

All I really knew was what Gunie told me, and that I was safe.

Another reason I was afraid of going back to school was because of the crime Sebastian had committed. From what I had always been told, people had a tendency to blame the victim for what had happened to them.

I had gotten up early on the first day we would be going back to school, and I didn't really know what to do with myself. I ended up pacing around on the main floor of the house, worrying about what people would think of me.

"Something's on your mind," Gunie's voice said from behind me. I turned around and saw that he was leaning against the wall, not too far away. Despite the fact that I knew it was him, I jumped.

As soon as I regained my composure, I saw that he was still in his pajamas, but that time, his glasses were on. I blushed, even though I told myself not to, when I saw that he was wearing boxers instead of pants.

"Uh, yeah," I said. "I guess so. I mean, that something's on my mind." He raised an eyebrow.

"Do you need me to put pants on?" he asked.

"No," I replied. "I'm all right."

He walked over to a couch by the fireplace and sat down.

"So," he said. "What's bothering you other than that?"

"Other than what?" I asked, sitting down next to him.

"My indecency," he replied.

"Oh, no," I said. "That's not bothering me at all. I mean, well, I…" I stopped, realizing that if I kept talking, I would make the conversation awkward.

Luckily, he just laughed.

"You're cute," he said.

"Anyway," I continued. "Why I'm worried. It's…really stupid."

"Try me," he said.

"All right," I said with a heavy sigh. "I'm worried about what people will think of me at school. I know that's not really important, but…I don't want to get dirty looks from people. I don't want people to think I'm stupid, or a whore, or that it was my fault."

Without any sort of warning, he gave me a hug that nearly cut off my breathing.

"Hey!" I cried. "What are you doing?"

"Giving you a hug," he replied. He loosened his grip. "You needed it, and so did I." Finally, he completely let go.

"You're really warm," I commented.

"I don't know about that," he said. I moved my arms a little, recovering from that bone-crushing hug.

"I didn't know you had that in you," I said. He flexed his arms, but I didn't notice much of a difference.

"Yeah," he said. "Check this shit out." I laughed. He cleared his throat. "Anyway, nobody's going to judge you about what happened."

"How do you know?" I asked.

"Because nobody likes Sebastian," he replied. "I'll even go down the list. Helena and Isidore are ashamed and angry, but not at you. Hugh hasn't ever judged anyone in his life, and the twins…well, they probably won't even know what's going on. Juniper and Ella won't, either. The only one I'd be concerned about is Amy, but who cares? If she called you a whore, she'd just be a hypocrite."

Despite my cast, I gave him a hug.

"To think that you used to make me mad," I said.

"I know," he said. "It's weird." He paused. "I'm going to get dressed. I'll see you soon."

"Okay," I replied.

He walked off toward his room, and Leona came down the stairs shortly after.

"Hi," I said.

"Hello," she replied.

"Do you need help with anything?" I asked.

"No," she replied. "Just cooking breakfast. I feel like I've been making a lot more food recently. Gunie's actually been eating." She laughed, and went into the kitchen.

"I've noticed," I said.

As if on cue, Gunie came down the hallway.

"That was fast," I commented.

"I wanted to see you again," he said. Just as he spoke, Leona dropped a fork on the ground.

"Oh no," she said, sighing. She started to bend over to pick it up, but Gunie rushed over and picked it up for her.

"Mom," he said. "Are you crazy? You could fall doing that!"

"You're right," she said, smiling at him. "I wasn't thinking. I guess I have gotten really…big." She suddenly started to cry.

"Mom!" he cried. "What did I say?"

"I'm just really glad…to have you back," she said. "It felt as though you were gone for eleven years. Eleven years, and now you're back to the way you were. You're happy again." He gave her a hug.

"I'm glad to be back," he said.

Ella came skipping out from her room, but stopped in front of the kitchen.

"Gunie's a mama's boy!" she cried. Instead of getting angry and defensive, Gunie laughed.

"Don't wake up the whole house," he said. He turned his attention to the stove. "Mom, the potatoes are burning."

"Ah!" Leona cried. She quickly turned the stove down. "Thank you."

Eventually, breakfast was ready, and we ate quickly. We left the house early, and walked to school quickly. To my dismay, Amy was standing outside the school, as if she was waiting for something. Once she caught sight of us, she shot us her death glare, and started marching toward us.

"Ella," Gunie said. "Why don't you go inside and play with Juniper?"

"Okay!" Ella exclaimed. She skipped off, and went into the school.

As soon as Ella was gone, Amy quickened her pace. When she got close enough to Gunie, she slapped him across the face. After the shock had worn off, he frowned.

"What the hell?" he asked.

"You…cheated…on…me!" she shouted, slapping him between each word.

"So what if I did?" he asked.

"_Nobody _cheats on me!" she said through her teeth.

"Well," he replied. "_I _did, so shut up."

"Ugh!" Amy muttered. She turned her glare to me. "And as for _you_, I wish Sebastian would have-"

"Don't say another word," Gunie growled. "God, I never thought I would know anyone so low." Amy shut up after that, and walked into the school building.

"Thanks," I said.

"Any time," he replied. His cheeks were bright red, but not from blushing.

"Jeez," I said. "She really hit you hard."

"You're telling me," he said. "Come on, let's go inside. She won't be able to hit me in front of Anette."

We went inside the school building, only to see that everyone else in the class was there. I sat down at my desk.

"Good," Anette said. "Now we can start class."

The day went on, and I had trouble paying attention, as usual. Because of the fact that it was a half day, school was over before I knew it.

Gunie, Ella, and I were about to start the walk home, but Gunie stopped in his tracks.

"Ella," he said. "You can start the walk home. I need to talk to Ria about something." Ella looked confused, but started off anyway.

"What's going on?" I asked Gunie once Ella was gone. He sighed heavily.

"I don't know if this is going to work out," he said. For a second, I wasn't sure if I had heard him correctly.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"I don't think we should be in a relationship anymore," he said. "I just-"

"Stop," I demanded. I was pissed off, and not to mention hurt. I got right in his face. "You think you can just tell someone you love them, and build them up like crazy, and then send them crashing down?"

"Please," he said. "Listen to me. I-"

"No!" I shouted. I felt tears sting my eyes as I thought of something that could have caused that. "You still like her! You still like that filthy slut!"

"No," he said, putting a hand on my shoulder. "You're not-"

"Don't touch me!" I shouted, hitting his hand away. I took a sharp breath, trying not to cry in front of him. I couldn't think of anything else to say, so I turned around and started to walk away.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"Away from you," I replied.

I didn't exactly know where to go, but I took the path that led down to the dungeon where I had rescued Gunie. Without thinking, I went into the little house next to the pond. It looked as though it had been abandoned for years, judging by the dust everywhere. But I didn't care. Instead, I sat down at a table in the front room, and cried.

Eventually, I had to go back home, but I didn't say anything to anyone. I just went back to my room, deciding that sleep would be best.

**Uh oh...**

**I know the whole breakup thing seems very sudden, but the next chapter explains it all.**

**Let's just say that the first part of this chapter was my favorite. Awkwardness FTW.**

**What else...? Yeah, the upcoming chapter is the one I've been looking forward to for a really long time. But I hope you all like this one!  
**


	21. A Sad Boy

**Warning: this chapter includes more profanity than usual, somewhat violent images (depending on what you consider violent), and a speech that almost made me cry when I was writing it.**

I found myself at Lake Poli. It was strange, since I didn't even remember how I got there. And for some reason, it looked and felt exactly like the night I had been attacked.

"Hello?" I called. Nobody answered. I somehow got the feeling that there would never be an answer.

I heard some rustling in the bushes behind me.

"Who's there?" I asked. There was no response. "Who's there?" I heard the rustling again. The sound seemed to be getting closer.

Suddenly, someone clasped their hand over my mouth.

"Ha," Sebastian said. "I've got you now. And this time, there's no escape." I started to scream, but it was muffled under Sebastian's hand.

The next thing I knew, I was in the dark. I thought I was dead, but once my eyes adjusted to the almost nonexistent light, I saw that I was in my bed.

_Thank God, _I thought. _Just a dream…a nightmare…_

I lit the candle next to my bed again, hoping I could see the clock that way. Luckily, I was able to. I sighed upon seeing what time it was: four thirty in the morning. I knew there was no way I'd be able to go back to sleep, especially since I felt well-rested enough. Unfortunately, I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to be in the house, but I didn't really have anywhere else to go. I eventually decided that I would just go to school.

I got dressed silently, and tried not to make the floor creak with my footsteps as I left the house. The snow was falling lightly, and it was cold. I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to keep warm. It was dark outside, but I was able to find my way to the church with little trouble.

However, when I tried to open the door, I heard music. It sounded like a pipe organ, but I couldn't think of anyone in town who knew how to play other than Lara. I didn't think she would be awake at almost five in the morning, even though she used to be a nun. I hesitantly opened the door, and stepped inside.

I had expected the church to be warm, as it usually was during school hours. I quickly figured out that it was because it was too early for anyone to have gone in and started a fire. The only thing I could see clearly was a faint light coming from the corner of the church.

The music suddenly started up again, and I recognized it right away. It was the healing song of the Earthmates. I started to walk slowly toward the light, singing along with the music. The song ended right as I came close to the light, which I realized then was a candle. I quietly finished singing the last line of the song, but to my surprise a male voice joined in. I had never heard a boy with such an amazing voice, except for Dad.

"You have a beautiful voice," I said, even though I didn't know who I was talking to.

"Thank you," Gunie replied, his voice sounding sad. "So do you." I jumped about five feet in the air. And then, I remembered that I was still mad at him.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I couldn't sleep," he replied. "I haven't been able to sleep properly for the five days since we…" His voice trailed off. "What are you doing here?"

"I had a nightmare," I said. "And I didn't have anything better to do."

There was an awkward pause.

"I feel like an idiot," he said finally.  
"You should," I told him.

"It's all because I don't want to hurt you," he said.

"Then I'd say your actions are completely contradictory," I said.

He stood up, and I was able to see his face in the candlelight.

"I'm serious," he said angrily. I turned away from him, not wanting to see him so angry. "Look at me. Do I look like I'm screwing around?" I turned back to face him.

"No," I replied. "You don't." He sighed heavily.

"I'm sorry," he said. "It's just…hard. What I'm doing, I mean. What I have to tell you."

"Whatever it is," I said. "You should probably just say it."

He used his arms to brace himself against a pew, as if on the verge of collapse.

"When you read my diary," he said softly. "Did you ever wonder about those little slash marks at the bottom of some pages?"

"Yes," I replied.

"And," he continued, his voice getting louder. "Have you ever wondered why I wear gloves all the time?" He took off his gloves, and threw them to the ground.

"Kind of," I replied.

"What about this?" he asked. His voice was shaking, and I couldn't quite read him. "Have you ever wanted to ask me…" He started to pull back the left sleeve of his shirt. "…Why I wear _long sleeves_ all the time?" He picked up the candle, and held it next to his bare arm.

I gasped as soon as I saw what he was talking about, and my eyes widened in horror as I looked upon the incomprehensible amount of scars, scratches, and cuts.

"Wh-What is that?" I asked, my voice trembling.

"It's the story of my life," he replied angrily. He pointed to a particularly long scar that ran all the way from his wrist to his elbow. "See this? This one's from when I tried to commit suicide when I was thirteen. And these little ones are for all the shitty things I said to you!" He paused, and lifted his shaking index finger to several cuts that seemed to have some sort of shape to them. "And these…these are from five days ago. Those five days ago when I _broke your heart!_" He turned his arm at a different angle, and I felt my eyes fill with tears when I saw that the cuts were three letters.

"I-Is that…?" I started to ask.

"Yes, god damn it!" he shouted. "It's _your name!_ I did it because I knew that even though you wouldn't love me anymore, I would always have…" He sighed, but he didn't seem calm at all.

"I don't know what to say," I whimpered.

"Damn right you don't know what to say!" he cried. "Nobody knows what to say! Nobody in this godforsaken town even knows what this…this _disease _does to me!" He paused again, breathing heavily. "I just wanted to protect you. Because I love you. But it's all right if you don't love me." He clenched his fists. "Nobody…nobody in their right mind would want to stay with someone so _fucking sick!_" With those words, he slammed one of his fists down on the pew, continuing to brace himself against it.

I looked at him, his back hunched, and his body twisted. I thought of the cuts on his arms, and how he must have felt, walking around every day with the burden of feeling sad all the time. And finally, I thought of the drawing in his diary.

"You're still here," he said. He snapped his head in my direction. "Why are you staying? What do you see in me? What do you see when you look at this mess?"

I paused for a second. I had a million things that I saw in him, but I never would have predicted the one that came out first.

"I see a sad boy," I said.

"What?" he asked, turning to fully face me.

"I see a sad boy," I repeated. "A sad, scared, and confused little boy, who doesn't know why that other kid knocked him down. He's apprehensive of everything, since he's small for his age and gets sick a lot. But…he's a beautiful child. He has brown hair, adorable rosy cheeks, and…the most beautiful blue eyes anyone could ever ask for. But those eyes are filled with tears, because that kid who's so much bigger than him decided that he wanted to hurt him for no reason." I paused, seeing that Gunie was staring at me. I continued anyway. "That little boy…he doesn't know what he did to deserve this. He doesn't want to tell his parents, because he's ashamed, and he doesn't want them to feel ashamed. Instead, he puts on a brave face, and keeps his feelings inside. Eventually, this leads to anger, anger like no one's ever felt before. He frowns at people, even though he used to smile at them. He insults people instead of inviting them to play. But behind those narrowed eyes, there are tears that could fill up a pond, or even a lake. He just wants to cry, to tell someone how he feels." I looked up at Gunie again, and rested a hand on his cheek. "So, whenever I look at you, I don't see a freak, or a monster, or anything like that. I see a sad boy who just wants to be loved."

For a few seconds, there was absolute silence. But to my surprise, I felt a tear fall onto my hand. That single tear turned into even more. He slowly fell to his knees, and then curled up on the floor. I quickly went down to comfort him.

He hugged his knees, burying his face in them. I had never heard anyone cry so hard, and for so long. I wanted to cry with him, but I knew that if I started crying, that would upset him even more. So, I brought him into a hug, trying to avoid tears myself.

Finally, he looked up at me.

"You…you m-must think…I'm pathetic," he sobbed.

"No," I replied. "You're not pathetic at all. You were a victim, and that haunts you to this day."

"You understand me," he said, wiping his eyes. He stretched his arms.

"Worn out?" I asked. He nodded. "Crying does that to you. And not sleeping for five days." He slowly started to lie down on the cold church floor.

After only a few minutes, he was asleep. I had to fight to stay awake, but the sound of his relaxed breathing made it all too tempting to sleep. Despite my best efforts, I slowly started to recline next to him, and the next thing I knew, I was out.

"I found them!" Mist's voice exclaimed. My eyes opened, and I quickly realized that I had my arms around him, and he was holding my hand. Also, I had somehow managed to inch way too close to him. I figured it was because he was a good source of heat, but then I remembered that Mist was standing right there.

"Ah!" I cried, quickly sitting up. "I'm so sorr-"

"Oh," Mist said. "No need to apologize. Everyone needs to take a nap every once and a while."

Raguna, Leif, Leona, and Ella came rushing up to us.

"Thank God," Leif said.

"What happened to you?" Raguna asked.

"It's kind of a long story," I replied.

"I know!" Ella exclaimed. "You were getting all kissy face, so you wanted to be alone!"

"No!" I cried. "It wasn't like that at all!"

"Gunie," Leona said, pushing him softly with her foot. "It's time to wake up." He groaned, and rolled over.

"Five more minutes," he muttered.

"No," Leif said. "Now."

Upon hearing those words, Gunie opened his eyes. He sat up slowly, but when he saw his entire family standing over him, he snapped out of it.

"Oh crap," he said quietly.

"'Oh crap' is right," Leona said. "What were you doing?"

"I woke up at three in the morning and decided to come here," he replied.

"And I had the same thoughts," I said. "Except at four thirty in the morning."

"We just talked," Gunie continued. "I swear. Nothing happened that you're thinking of! I was just worn out, because I hadn't been sleeping well, and then I was crying, and-"

"You cried?!" Raguna, Leif, Leona, Ella, and even Mist asked.

"Um, yeah," Gunie replied.

For a few seconds, there was silence.

"Well," Raguna said finally. "It seems to me that there was no harm done."

"And we're fully clothed," I blurted out. I blushed, realizing what an awkward statement that was.

"Anyway," Leona said. "Next time you want to sleep, make sure you're in separate rooms, and not in public." She paused. "School starts in an hour, so if you want, you can come home and eat."

They all started to leave, and once they were gone, Gunie sat up and stretched his arms.

"That was…uncomfortable," he said.

"Sleeping on the floor?" I asked. "Yeah, I'm starting to feel it too."

"No," he said. "Having my entire family walk in on us sleeping together." He paused. "I mean, no!" I laughed.

"Come on," I said, standing up. "Let's go back home." He stood up as well, and we left the church.

He reached for my hand, and I took it.

"So you really don't think I'm sick?" he asked.

"No," I replied. "But you should really stop. The last thing I want is for you to hurt yourself."

"Then I won't do it anymore," he said quietly.

I stopped walking, and stepped in front of him. I put my hands on his shoulders, and looked him straight in the eyes.

"You've got to promise me," I said. "That no matter what happens, you're not going to do that."

"I promise," he said. I hugged him tightly.

"I love you," I said.

"I love you, too," he replied.

We walked together back to the house, and I thought about his promise to me. Even though I knew promises were easily broken, I felt as though that one wouldn't be.

**Yay! A long chapter, finally!**

**Exams this week, and then break! 8D**

**Just for the sake of being interesting, here's a short story:**

**When I was working with my therapist on Saturday, I had to practice this thing called resourcing, which is supposed to help me feel calm when I feel really angry. It involves picking a time where I was really happy and felt calm, and thinking about it. I picked writing this story. Somehow, my mind flipped to Arianna's not-yet-written speech. And this is where it gets weird: sometimes, with the resourcing, you hear music. When I started thinking of that scene, I heard music, and I was trying to recognize it. But I couldn't! Without even trying to, I came up with a piece of music that (if there was a soundtrack to this story) would be in that scene! It was really weird, but really awesome at the same time.**

**So yeah. That's my story.  
**


	22. Raina

A week passed, and things seemed to go back to normal. Or, at least as normal as everything could get.

The town had also finally decided what to do with Sebastian. They had decided to send him off to a facility out in the middle of nowhere, and they said he wouldn't be back for quite some time, if ever. I was glad to hear it, but at the same time, it brought back memories of what had happened that night.

For some reason, I had started feeling better overall, and sleeping better. Both Gunie and I managed to get up around the same time every day, and we weren't tired at all.

So, the day when I got up and saw that Gunie wasn't there was a surprise.

I had gotten dressed and walked down the hallway, expecting to see him, but instead, I heard yelling.

"It's on fire!" I heard Leif shout.

"Then put it out!" Raguna replied.

"How?" Leif asked.

"It's just a little grease fire!" Raguna told him.

"Will you keep it down?" Leif asked.

"Um, excuse me," I said. They stopped yelling at each other, and Raguna quickly poured a pitcher of water over the small fire.

"Hi, Ria," Raguna said, as though nothing had happened.

"Why isn't Leona cooking?" I asked.

"She's feeling a little strange," Leif replied. "I worry about her, so I decided to cook breakfast."

"Yes," Raguna said. "You decided to cook breakfast. Next time, if you want to be helpful, try doing something you know how to do." Leif shot him a dirty look.

"And Gunie," I said. "Where did he go?"

"He hasn't left his room yet," Leif said. "If you want, you can go check on him. I have to finish cooking."

"Not another word out of you," Raguna ordered.

I quickly walked away, finding it funny that they were arguing about something so stupid. I went down the hall quietly, because I knew that Ella was still asleep, and opened Gunie's door just slightly.

At first glance, I thought he was sleeping. But then, he went into what seemed like a coughing fit. Once he had managed to stop, he groaned and put his pillow over his head.

"Are you okay?" I asked him quietly. Instead of replying in words, he groaned again.

"Please," he said in a voice that was almost like a whimper. "Don't talk so loud."

"Um, okay," I said. Even though his face was still covered, he lifted his arm and pointed to a large clay pot in the corner of his room.

"I…need that," he said, his voice getting hoarse.

"You need it?" I asked.

"Just give it to me!" he shouted. His voice sounded frantic, so I didn't ask any more questions, and carried the pot over to the side of his bed.

The second I set it down, he uncovered his face, and leaned over the side of his bed. He stuck his face into the pot, and, in between particularly strong swear words, got violently sick. For a few seconds, he just stayed there, breathing heavily.

"I take it you're sick," I commented. He slowly brought himself back to his previous position, still with his pillow over his face.

"I feel like I have the flu," he groaned. "Aside from the muscle aches. But when I was a kid…I got these twenty-four hour things all the time. They were just like this…" He sighed. "And of course, the migraines." I smiled.

"Menstrual migraine?" I asked.

"What?" he muttered.

"That was a joke," I said.

"Oh…" he replied. I stroked his hair, which was messy from sleep and matted down from sweat.

"Feel better," I said. I kissed the top of his head, since it was the only place I could reach.

I got up, and started to walk away.

"R-Ria…" he said in a raspy voice. I turned around.

"Yeah?" I replied.

He started to raise his left arm, and I noticed that he was wearing a short-sleeved shirt.

"Look," he said. "They're getting better." I walked back toward him, and as much as I didn't want to, I looked at his scars. I was relieved that what he said was true, and that they were starting to heal. I took his hand, and squeezed it.

"Keep it up," I said. With that, I started to walk away.

Ella was sitting at the table, and her face lit up when she saw me.

"Did you kiss him?" she asked excitedly.

"No," I told her. "He was too busy throwing up."

"_Ew!_" she squealed.

"You asked," I said.

"He's sick?" Leif asked. "That brings back a lot of memories."

"What memories?" Ella asked.

"Well," Leif said, setting some food in front of us. "They're not very good memories. He would change from sick to healthy in the blink of an eye when he was little. We always worried about him, especially Leona. There was a time when he was about five that we thought we would have to home-school him because we weren't sure if he'd be able to go to school." He paused. "But he was happy, at least. He had the most contagious laugh. And my mom and dad spoiled the hell out of him. Eunice did, too."

"They sure did," Raguna added. "Sometimes, they did a little too much of that." He laughed, and looked at Ella and me. "I guess you don't know exactly what we're talking about. You know how they say when babies are teething that a little alcohol will help soothe the pain?"

"Yeah," Ella said.

"Well," Raguna continued. "Rita and Turner were incredibly fond of alcohol, so…they went a little overboard."

"I went over to the inn to pick Gunie up," Leif said. "And when I asked where he was, they both looked over at this little heap in the corner. Turns out, it was seven-month-old Gunie, passed out with a wine bottle in his hand."

"So they got a baby _drunk?!_" Ella asked.

"It was an accident," Leif said. "Anyway, enough stories for now. You should go to school."

"I'll check on Gunie," Raguna said.

"Oh," I said. "He has a migraine, so don't make too much noise."

"All right," both Raguna and Leif replied.

We started the walk to school. Of course, Ella wouldn't stop talking about how appalling it was to give a baby wine, but then, she would talk about how she wished she had known her grandparents.

School hadn't started yet when we got there, and everyone was still talking about everything that had happened since the day before. Since Gunie wasn't there, and Ella went straight for Juniper, I felt kind of alone. Luckily, Anette told us to quiet down, and she started teaching. That day, I was able to pay attention and take notes on what we were learning. We also got some time to practice in the workshop. Even so, I was happy when the time came to have lunch. We went over to the nuns' kitchen, and started to eat. Once again, I felt as though I didn't have anyone to talk to.

Suddenly, I heard someone running down the hall. I was astonished when Gunie screeched to a halt in front of the old kitchen.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I'm mostly here for Ella," he replied, panting. "But you can come too, if you want."

"For me?" Ella asked. "What happened?"

"Mom's in labor," he said.

"What?" Ella asked.

"She's having the baby!" he replied.

"Oh," Ella said. Her eyes suddenly got wide. "Wait, what?!"

"Yeah," Gunie said.

"I'll go," I said. I thought it would be nice to get out of school, but on the same time, I hadn't seen a baby since I was nine.

Gunie started to run again, and Ella and I got up and followed him.

"How long has she been in labor?" I asked.

"A little over three hours," he replied.

"Why didn't you come sooner?" Ella asked.

"Because my headache wouldn't let up," Gunie said. "And Dad wanted to stay with Mom. And Grandma and Grandpa were out at Rosetta's store, so I had to go and get them, too."

We quickly reached the house, and Ella and I rushed inside. Gunie, however, stopped before we even got to the door.

"Are you coming?" I asked him.

"Too much…running," he panted. "You go…I'm going to-" He cut himself off by making a loud retching sound. I knew what was coming next, so I ran for the door and shut it behind me.

"Where's Gunie?" Ella asked. She was sitting on the couch, and I decided to join her.

"Puking," I replied. That time, she didn't seem to care.

"When is she coming?" she asked, swinging her legs impatiently.

"The baby?" I asked. She nodded. "Well, not for a while. It could take anytime between four or seven hours. It depends on a lot of things."

"Four hours?!" Ella asked. "I can't wait that long!"

"Well," I said. "Just think about Gunie. He probably won't be able to see her for at least another day."

"Why?" she asked.

"It's not a good idea to be around a baby when you're sick," I replied. "Babies get sick really easily, and it can be worse for them. Like if a little newborn baby caught a cold, they'd get really, really sick. That's why you always wash your hands before you even go near them."

I remembered all the things Mom and Dad had told us when Zoe was born, and Julian too. Gerard's birth was a little harder to remember, but I was sure it was the same. All the questions they asked us, and the commands they made came back to me. The phrases went through my head like crazy.

"_Arianna, did you pick up your toys? Gerard could choke on them."_

"_Aaron, where on earth did you put those teething rings?"_

"_Tristan! Don't give Zoe a pencil!"_

"_Flora, please be quiet. Julian just went down for his nap."_

"_Lily, did you let Gerard play with Mommy's lipstick? Ugh, Aria's going to kill me…"_

"_Tristan, don't use that language around Zoe! Do you want that to be her first word?"_

"_Gerard! Take that diaper off your head and put it back on your sister!"_

I tried not to laugh as those thoughts flooded my mind. I remembered my fondness for babies, aside from the screaming and diapers.

"Ria, are you spacing out again?" Ella asked.

"I guess so," I replied.

"Do you think I'll be able to hold her?" she asked.

"Sure," I replied. "Back in my old hometown, I had friends with younger siblings, and some of them got to hold their little brothers and sisters when they were as young as four years old. I mean, they had to have their parents nearby, but they still at least got to pretend they were holding them."

Gunie came back into the room, and sat down.

"Wow," I said. "That one took a long time."

"Yeah," he said. "You're telling me. The good news is, I'm starting to feel a little better."

"Gunie?" Ella asked. "Did you get to hold me when I was born?"

"I did," he replied. "If you're worried about not getting to hold the baby, don't. I was eight when you were born." He paused. "That's funny. I'm eight years older than you, Ella, and you're eight years old than the new baby."

"That's weird," I said.

"Not as weird as Dad and Eunice," he replied. "They're thirty-three years apart."

I turned to look at him fully, and saw that he was sweating more than usual. His bangs had started to fall over his face a little more. I reached over, and swept them to the side.

"You need a haircut," I told him.

"I know," he said. I laughed.

"You need something for that fever, too," I said. "I can feel the heat radiating from you."

I heard footsteps behind us, and I turned around to see Raguna.

"How is she?" Ella asked. "Almost done?" Raguna laughed.

"Far from it," he said. "Lara says that it'll probably be a few more hours. That's actually pretty fast for a baby, though."

"And Dad's okay, isn't he?" Gunie asked.

"He's fine," Raguna said with a wave of his hand. "He was a nervous wreck with you, but then again, you were the first. You were also a week overdue, almost nine pounds, and quite comfortable where you were. It took half a day for you to come out. Ella, on the other hand, was a little tiny thing who wanted to go and see the world. Two ends of the baby spectrum. Hopefully this one will be somewhere in between."

"Gunie was a fat baby!" Ella cried.

"So were you!" he replied. "Babies are supposed to be fat. It means they're healthy!"

"I wasn't fat!" Ella protested. "Grandpa said so!"

"I'm going to have to agree with Gunie," Raguna said. "Yes, babies are supposed to have some meat on their bones. Ella, you were chubby, but nothing compared to Gunie."

"Ha!" Ella shouted.

"What do you mean, 'ha'?" Gunie asked.

"Looks like someone's feeling a lot better," I said.

"Told you so," he said. "By the way, Grandpa, is Mom at the clinic?"

"No," he replied. "She's upstairs in her bedroom. Why?"

"I can't hear anything," Gunie replied. "You know, screaming, cursing, or anguished cries of 'why did you do this to me?'…that sort of thing."

"Ah," Raguna said. "Strong painkillers and sound barriers that were put up just after we brought her upstairs."

"Sound barriers?" Gunie asked. "What for?" Raguna gestured to Ella, and wordlessly told Gunie not to talk about it anymore.

"I have an idea!" Ella exclaimed. "We should play a game!" Gunie leaned back against the couch and groaned, as if he knew what was going to happen next.

"What game?" I asked.

"How about the one where you go on a trip?" she asked. "And you have to bring things according to the alphabet. Do you know how to play, Ria?"

"Yeah," I replied.

"Okay," Ella said. She looked around, and finally, she smiled at Gunie, who was still leaning back against the couch. "Gunie, you start." He stayed still, but then, quickly sat up with a smile on his face.

"All right," he said. "I'm going on a trip, and I'm going to bring an asshole who doesn't want to play this stupid game." Ella clasped her hands over her mouth. I tried not to laugh as I remembered a story Mom told me, that I couldn't remember myself.

"When you were just a little over three years old," she had said. "I realized that you had been mentally cataloguing swear words, but you didn't necessarily know what they meant. I figured it out one day when your grandparents, Grandpa Barrett and Grandma Dorothy, were visiting. Lily and Flora's other grandparents, Max and Julia, were also there. Lily, being Lily, decided that she would play ballerina for them while they were there. Eventually, even though she was a cute little thing, I could sense the crowd getting bored. So, Tristan and Flora decided to cause a little bit of disruption by pushing her over. Lily, knowing it was Tristan behind the attack, started threatening him. But guess who was looking at a picture book, just after being released from time-out? Yes, you. And since you were fresh out of the time-out chair, you weren't too happy. So you said to her, 'Lily, shut up!' I was about to go over there and scold you, but Lily started crying. After that, you obviously couldn't take it anymore, so you shouted, 'Lily, if you don't shut up, I'm going to go over there and punch you in the nut sack!' We went from being upset with you to laughing at you in just a matter of seconds."

They must have played a million games while I sat there on the couch, not moving, and just thinking of home.

Finally, my thoughts were interrupted by thundering footsteps going down the stairs. I turned around, and saw that it was Lara. She was smiling broadly.

"Come meet your new sister!" she whispered excitedly. Both Gunie and Ella scrambled up from their feet. "Gunie, I have good news for you." She pulled out a strange-looking mask, and a bar of soap.

"What's that for?" he asked.

"To cover your face," Lara replied. "And to clean your hands." Gunie's face lit up.

"So I can see her?" he asked. Lara nodded. He quickly took the mask and the soap, and headed straight for the kitchen sink.

We tiptoed up the stairs, and Gunie followed closely behind, once he had cleaned off his hands. He looked funny with the mask on, but I tried not to laugh. When we finally got to the door of the bedroom, Lara indicated for us to be absolutely silent. She slowly pushed the door open, and we all stepped inside.

In the center of the room was a bed, which Leona was in. Leif stood behind her, admiring a little bundle of blankets she held in her arms. Mist and Eunice were also there, whispering to each other.

Gunie and Ella went straight for their mother, peering over her shoulder. I followed them, thinking it would be a little rude if I tried to look at the new baby before Gunie and Ella could.

"She's so cute," Ella whispered.

"Yeah," Gunie added. "What's her name?"

"We aren't really sure yet," Leona said. "We had a few ideas, but we really wanted to wait and see what she would look like."

"And we're not sure which member of the family she most resembles," Leif said.

I finally got close enough to see the baby. She was adorable, like all babies. She had blonde hair that was surprisingly thick for a baby so young. I felt Lara, Mist, Eunice, and Raguna all come behind me to get a better look at her. The baby stirred, and briefly opened her eyes. They were blue, with the slightest hint of green. The four oldest people in the room gasped, and looked at each other.

"It's uncanny," Raguna said.

"I know," Eunice said.

"What are we talking about?" Mist asked. "Oh, that's right."

"She looks just like…" Lara said, but her sentence was finished.

"Rita," Lara, Raguna, and Mist said all at once. Eunice, on the other hand, said "Mom".

Leif took a tiny step back.

"We…we were just talking about her this morning," he said.

"Strange how some things work," Raguna said.

"We could name her after Rita," Leona said.

"No," Leif said, shaking his head. "A variation would be better. What were some of those names we were thinking of…?"

"Raina," Gunie blurted out. Everyone looked at him.

"Where did you hear that?" Leona asked him.

"A few years ago," he replied. "You were joking about it. You said if you ever had twins, you would name them Sunny and Rainy because Grandpa's a farmer. But I think Raina is actually a very nice name."

The room was quiet for a second.

"I think so, too," Leona said. "Leif?"

"It's great," Leif said. "Gunie, I think you can successfully say that you named your youngest sister."

"And it's funny," Leona added. "Because not only does Raina sound like Rita, but it also sounds like Ria."

I almost said, "That's not my real name", but I caught myself. If I did that, my story would have fallen apart, and everyone would have been angry with me for lying. And thinking about home and all those memories probably didn't help. I felt tears sting my eyes.

"You okay?" Gunie asked, setting a hand on my shoulder.

"Yeah," I replied. But that was a lie. I was absolutely, most definitely far from okay.

On one hand, I loved Trampoli, and the people who had taken me in, but at the same time, a little part of me wanted to go home.

**I think my hands are broken from typing so much.**

**Anyway, I've been busy. I've got one more exam tomorrow, and then, I'm free! Yay!**

**Also, I just uploaded my version of the Grimoire Song to my YouTube account! Check it out on your own, or PM me if you're interested!  
**


	23. Awkwardness and a Familiar Face

On the Holiday about a week or so after Raina was born, Gunie and I found ourselves incredibly bored, and not to mention tired. Even though Raina was far away in Leif and Leona's room, she still managed to wake up everyone in the house when she cried.

"I'm getting tired of this whole 'sitting around the house' thing," Gunie said finally. I laughed.

"Me too," I said. "Do you know where Ella is?"

"Off somewhere," he replied. "Probably out causing trouble with Juniper."

Leona came down the stairs, holding Raina, who seemed to be awfully quiet.

"I have to get out of the house," she said with a sigh. "It's driving me out of my mind."

"We could watch Raina," I blurted out. Gunie looked at me.

"Really?" Leona asked. "You'd be doing me a huge favor, and I think you two are old enough."

"It's been a while," Gunie said. "But I'll be fine."

"All right," Leona finally said. She set Raina in Gunie's arms. "Take good care of her. Wait until you get another adult around if you want to go somewhere." She sighed and left the house, muttering about what a bad mother she thought she was.

For a few seconds, we just sat.

"I don't really know what to do," Gunie said.

"I kind of get what you mean," I said. "She's obviously not at the age where you can play with her, and she can't even see yet."

"She can't see?" Gunie asked in a panicked tone of voice.

"Ssh!" I hissed. "Don't wake her up." I paused, thinking of his previous statement. "Babies her age aren't really supposed to see. She can probably see light and outlines, but not much else. She can hear you, though."

"Huh," Gunie said.

Raina opened her eyes, but didn't make a sound.

"I'm afraid she's going to cry," Gunie said.

"I'll take her, then," I said. We shifted around, gingerly picking up Raina and supporting her head until she was in my arms.

"You look surprisingly good like that," Gunie said. I looked up at him.

"Was that a suggestion?" I asked jokingly.

"No," he replied, smiling. "You just seem comfortable with her. Most teenage girls wouldn't even think about going near a baby."

"I don't know," I said. I sat there, looking down at Raina, and I softly put my hand on her head, and then her face. I laughed as I thought of something.

"What?" he asked.

"It's just been awhile since I've held a baby," I said. "She's so warm, and she's got that baby smell. Have you gotten a chance to touch her skin yet?" Gunie laughed.

"You can be so funny," he said.

Mist walked through the front door, and smiled.

"Are you practicing?" she asked.

"Practicing for what?" Gunie asked in reply.

"For your babies," Mist said.

"What?!" Gunie asked, almost waking up Raina. He blushed, which made me laugh.

"I'm sure they would be beautiful," Mist continued.

"Grandma!" Gunie cried. "We're-"

"Although," Mist said. "It would be interesting if you had more than one child, and one looked like you, and one looked like Ria. Or maybe they would look like just one parent. Maybe all of them would look like me!"

"All of them?" I asked. "How many kids are we talking about?"

"Oh, I don't know," Mist said. "You two don't seem like you would let your precious baby be an only child for the rest of his or her life. So, I'd say about four or five." Gunie's eyes grew as wide as dinner plates, and his face had turned bright red.

"Wh-what?" he stammered. "Four or…four or five?! Wait, why am I listening to you? Grandma, we're _not_ having babies!"

"Oh," I said, with mock sincerity. "Gunie, dear, I was so looking forward to having a little angel of our own. I personally like Bartholomew for a boy and Prudence for a girl." He covered his face, more embarrassed than I had ever seen him.

"You'd name our kids Bartholomew and Prudence?" he muttered.

"Ha!" I exclaimed. "You just said 'our kids'! 'Our' as in the two of us, and 'kids' as in the plural!" I was having the time of my life teasing him.

"No!" he cried. "There is _no way _I'm having kids with you!"

"So you don't like me?" I asked.

"No," he replied. "I _do _like you, and I _do _love you, but please, can we not talk about this? Babies have to come from somewhere!" I gave him a look that I thought would make him feel more awkward than he had ever been in all his life. "Do _not_ look at me like that." I slowly handed Raina back to Mist, and then started to scoot toward Gunie.

"Do you _want _to go…somewhere?" I whispered right in his ear.

"Ria…" he said, sounding terrified out of his mind. "If you do this, I-" I cut him off by kissing him, and while he was distracted by that, I pinned him to the couch and started tickling him mercilessly.

"Ah!" he cried, laughing. "Stop it! Get off me, I feel like a dork!" I started laughing as well, but I let him go.

"You…are…hysterical," I said.

"Since when are you so forward?" he asked.

"Since I was just teasing you," I said. "And trying to embarrass you in front of your grandmother."

"A job well done," Mist said. Gunie sighed, but smiled.

"Ria," he said. "You have no shame."

The front door suddenly burst open, and Ella was standing there panting.

"What's up with you?" Gunie asked.

"There's a person who's hurt!" she cried. "And Lara's taking care of him! Lara just gave him stitches!"

"What's the deal with all the injured people coming to Trampoli?" Gunie muttered.

"Let's go see," I said.

"You should," Ella said. "He's really cute, too!"

"No thanks," I said.

We left the house, and Ella quickly led us down the path to Erik's farm.

"It's kind of funny," Ella said as she opened the door to the house. "This guy here…he kind of looks like you."

"Really?" I asked.

"Well," Ella said. "Come see for yourself."

Ella led us back to the room where I had first asked Lara about the Sadness, and went inside.

"Ella!" Lara scolded. "What's gotten into you?"

"We just wanted to see him," she said.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a stretcher with a person in it. I had to look at him again.

_That boy really _does _look like me, _I thought. I slowly walked over to the stretcher, and as I got closer, I realized that we looked _exactly _alike.

I looked down at the boy on the stretcher, my eyes widening. We had the same red hair, the same pointed ears, and if he had opened them, I would have known that we had the same blue-green eyes.

"T-Tristan," I stammered quietly.

Tristan opened his eyes.

"Yeah?" he replied. He seemed a little foggy, and my guess was that Lara had used some kind of medicine to dull the pain of his stitches. But suddenly, his eyes got just as wide as mine.

"Oh my God," I said.

"Arianna!" he cried, suddenly sitting up. He winced from pain. "Ow, jeez, that hurt…but Arianna, you're alive! I knew you would be, but I never expected to find you here! I mean, I didn't expect I'd be here, but…" He must have noticed that the room was dead quiet, and that my eyes were filling with tears. "Sis, what's going on?"

**Um...HOLY CRAP IT'S TRISTAN!**

**Well, Mist knows a lot about babies, apparently...and I find Gunie's personality shifts very amusing, even if I wrote them. One minute, he's acting perfectly calm and really sweet, and then whenever someone in his family (or anybody, for that matter) mentions sex or anything related to it, he flips out!**

**I'm also in the process of drawing part of (I think) chapter 21. It's another Gunie one. Yeah, I know...  
**


	24. The Truth

**Because I am an idiot, I left this chapter out. Read this, otherwise, you'll all be confused.**

Lara quickly left the room, as though she didn't want to be a part of what was going on.

"Sis?" Ella asked.

"Arianna?" Gunie asked.

"What's going on?!" they both demanded.

"I asked that first!" Tristan protested. "And Arianna, who's _that_ guy? He's checking you out!"

"I'm not checking her out!" Gunie replied. "Not right now, anyway!"

"I swear to God," Tristan said. "You even _think _about touching my sister's ass, and I'll-"

"Tristan!" I cried. "Shut up!"

"I still don't know what's going on," Gunie said.

I took a deep breath, knowing that there was no way to hide the truth any longer.

"I'm going to make the introductions," I said. "And nobody's going to interject until I'm finished. Agreed?" Everyone nodded. "Gunie, Ella, this is my twin brother, Tristan. Tristan, this is Gunie, and this is Ella. I've been staying with them. Gunie and I are in a relationship. Deal with it, Tristan. And for those of you who don't know, I am Arianna. Are there any questions?" Tristan raised his hand, and I pointed to him.

"I have one," he said. "What the hell kind of a name is Gunie?"

"It's derived from my grandfather's name," Gunie growled.

"Makes you sound like a wimp," Tristan commented.

"You're _really _starting to piss me off," Gunie said.

"Too bad," Tristan said. "If you're going out with my little sister, you're going to have to deal with me."

"Will you two shut up?" I asked.

"Little sister?" Ella asked. "I thought you were twins."

"He's a few minutes older," I said. "Are there any other questions that need clearing up?" Tristan raised his hand again. "Any questions that _won't _lead to insults?"

"Actually, yeah," Tristan said. "Can I talk to you for a minute? Alone?" Gunie and Ella left the room.

"What is it?" I asked, closing the door.

"Why are you going out with that jackass?" he asked.

"He's not a jackass," I replied. "He's a very sweet guy, a great kisser, and not to mention attractive. And on top of all that, he saved my life. _You _were being the jackass."

"Saved your life?" he asked. "Why did he have to save your life?"

"This guy I thought I liked beat me up and tried to rape me," I replied. "So Gunie saved me from that, and then I fell through the ice, and then I had an asthma attack. He saved me from those, too."  
"A guy tried to rape you?!" Tristan asked. "Is that why your arm is broken? Forget that one guy! Where's the other bastard?"

"Gone," I replied. "Anyway, what did you need to say to me?"

He suddenly dropped his angry demeanor, and sighed.

"You need to come home," he said.

"I know," I said. "And I'll probably have to, now that you've shown up."

"I'm serious," he said. "Things haven't been the same without you. Everyone's been crying, or fighting, or just plain pissed off." I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Don't believe me? Well, Mom and Dad scream at each other every chance they get. Gerard's been writing poems about death. And you know how Zoe always used to act like a spoiled brat who didn't care about anything?"

"How could I forget?" I asked.

"Well," he continued. "She cries a lot now, but not because she doesn't get to eat a whole bar of chocolate by herself and then leave someone to clean up the mess. She cries like a baby, Arianna, and it's because of Mom and Dad yelling. And then, she'll go up to Lily and say, 'I want my sister back'. It's the saddest damn thing I've ever seen."

"Mom and Dad are fighting?" I asked. "What about?"

"Everything," he replied. "Whether it's Dad staying at work too long, or one of them forgetting to go buy something at the store, or not wanting to have sex…God knows how many times I've heard that one. And then of course, there's always 'It's your fault Arianna left'." That one hit me really hard.

"Oh my God," I whispered. "I had no idea."

"But this is really why," he said. "They don't really fight much anymore, because they can't. Mom's gotten really sick, and it's because she thinks you're dead, since you've been gone for so long. She won't eat, and she sleeps badly, and she has to stay in a wheelchair because she can't bring herself to walk anymore. And she's…pregnant."

"What?!" I asked. The idea of Mom being so sick brought tears to my eyes, but the fact that I would have another sibling, especially one in such a screwed up house, was what made me cry.

"Yeah," he replied. "And if you don't come back and let her know that you're alive, that baby will probably die. She might end up dead, too. If we lost her…if Dad lost her, then I don't even-"

"Stop it!" I cried. The tears were streaming down my face. "I didn't need persuasion! I'm going home!"

"I knew you wouldn't," he said. "But…I would think you'd be more than a little surprised if you came back and saw Mom looking like a dead body. I also found out where Orland lives."

"Who?" I asked, wiping the tears from my eyes.

"Our real dad," he replied.

I almost laughed, despite what Tristan had just told me. It had been so long since I had come to Trampoli that I didn't even remember why I had run away in the first place.

"Right," I said.

"Are you still willing to do that?" Tristan asked.

"Yes," I replied. "But first, I need to say goodbye to everyone."

"Understandable," Tristan said. "They seem to have taken good care of you." He paused. "I went out to get some water on the way here, but some goblins came up and attacked me. And then the driver got scared, so he left me there. Luckily, I was able to run for it. But I looked at a map before I left, and I found out that there's a place that rents carriages about a fifteen minute walk outside of town."

"What about those?" I asked, pointing to the stitches in his leg.

"I'll just ask for some painkillers," he said. "Fifteen minutes isn't going to kill me. Besides, I can take the carriage back here to get you."

"All right," I said. "Don't get attacked again, though."

"I won't," he said.

Tristan got up and got some medicine from Lara, while I walked back toward Raguna's house. I was nervous as hell that everyone would be mad at me, but when I got there, the reaction was quite different.

They were all sitting at the table, and instead of looking angry, they looked sad. Gunie looked the worst. He was looking right at the floor, and I could tell he was trying as hard as he could not to look up.

"Um, hello," I said. "Look, I know this must really suck for you, and you have every right to be upset, but-"

"We're not upset," Leona said, standing up. "Although I don't really appreciate that you lied…I'm glad to have met you. You've done a lot for us." She turned to Gunie. "Right?"

Upon hearing those words, Gunie put his head down on the table, burying his face in his arms.

"Don't leave," he said. "Please, Ri…Arianna, you have to stay."

"I can't," I replied. "My mother is really sick. I have to go back home." He lifted his head.

"Then don't come back," he said. Everyone at the table started to scold him, but he didn't seem to notice, because he hid his face again.

"Gunie," I said, once the noise had died down. "I want-"

"_Go!_" he shouted. He started to cry again. "Just…get out of my life."

I wanted to comfort him, to hold him, like I had in the church. But it wouldn't be of any use to try and make him feel better. Even though he had been hurt badly throughout his life, I knew that leaving him would leave permanent damage.

I was determined not to break down as everyone else but Gunie gave me hugs, said goodbye, and told me how much they were going to miss me. I quickly left the house, but as soon as I was outside, I took a good look at it, knowing that I probably wouldn't see it ever again.

I heard the sound of buffamoo hooves, and I turned around to see a fairly nice carriage.

"Are you Arianna?" he asked. I nodded. "Your brother's in the back. Get in quick, because we've got a long ride." I walked quickly to the carriage door, and got inside.

"Were they mad at you?" Tristan asked.

I couldn't take it after that, and I started to cry. I didn't want to explain anything, but I knew that crying without a proper explanation was always misleading.

"Th-they weren't," I sobbed. "B-but…_he _was."

That was all the information he needed. He tried everything that he usually did to comfort me when I got upset, but nothing worked. I cried and cried until I felt exhausted. When I tried to lie down and sleep, the last thing he said to me echoed in my head, tormenting me.

But then, when I closed my eyes, I saw his face. I remembered the first time he smiled at me, and that image alone was enough to help me sleep.


	25. Two Ends of the Spectrum

**Yay! I fixed it!**

I felt someone shake my shoulder. I stirred, and opened my eyes.

"Arianna," Tristan said. "We're here."

"Here?" I asked, sitting up and rubbing my eyes.

"At Orland's house," Tristan replied.

"You found his house?" I asked.

"Yeah," he replied. "Cecilia and Jake lied before when they said they hadn't heard from them. He sent them a letter a few years ago, a birth announcement. And all letters have a return address."

"Huh," I said. "Well, let's go."

As soon as I stepped out of the carriage, my jaw dropped. The house wasn't a house at all, or at least not like any house I had ever seen. It was about the size of Bianca's mansion back in Trampoli, but possibly bigger, and even more ornate.

"Do you…know what he does for a living?" I asked Tristan.

"He's a doctor," he replied. "Or maybe a surgeon of some kind. Cecilia and Jake weren't sure, either. But yeah, that house is even more ridiculous than I would have thought."

We started to walk up the long pathway to the huge double doors at the front of the house. We passed fountains, flowerbeds, and lots of signs saying "keep off the grass", until finally, we got there.

There was a string with a bell, and Tristan pulled it. We both waited, wringing our hands nervously. Finally, I heard something that sounded like someone saying, "You _know _I hate answering the door!", and one of the doors opened.

I did everything in my power not to take a step back when I saw the person standing there. He was a man, or rather, an elf, about Mom and Dad's age. He had blonde hair that went down to his chin, and pale skin. Everything else, I had seen in the mirror. The eyes, the ears, and…the facial expression. I knew that he must have been Orland.

"What are you staring at?" he asked. "I don't have time to give food to vagabonds."

"We're not vagabonds," Tristan said. Orland laughed, but it didn't seem like a kind one.

"Well," he said. "I suppose not. Vagabonds wouldn't know that word. But the word's becoming trite, isn't it?" He paused. "So, what are you, then? Circus performers? You don't see twins in many other places." I thought of a quick lie that I thought would work, from what I had learned about him so far.

"We're housekeepers," I said. "But our last employer didn't need us anymore, so we decided that we'd look for work again." Orland raised an eyebrow.

"That's convenient," he said. "I had to let some housekeepers go last week. They were so incompetent, they couldn't even dust off my diplomas correctly. Have you dusted diplomas before?"

"Yes," Tristan replied. "Many times." I had to try my best not to laugh. Tristan had always been a terrible liar, and I could see the nervousness in his eyes as he completed that ridiculous sentence.

"Come right in, then," Orland said. "I'll show you what sort of jobs you might be doing around here."

We stepped inside the huge house, and I couldn't help but look around. I saw Tristan looking at a statue, and as he reached out to touch it, Orland smacked his hand away.

"Don't even _think _about touching that," he said. "It cost me over two hundred thousand gold. That's worth more than your life!"

"Yes, sir," Tristan replied. "My apologies."

"Good," Orland said. "Now, if you'll just follow me, the swimming pool is this way. It's one of a kind. It was designed by-"

"Daddy?" I heard a little girl's voice ask. Orland rolled his eyes as a girl with lavender hair, blue eyes, and pointed ears ran down the stairs. She was probably even younger than Zoe, maybe about three, and she was dressed in much nicer clothing.

"What is it _now_, Isabella?" he asked.

"Who'd theses?" she asked, pointing to me, and then to Tristan.

"Remember what I told you," Orland said to her. Isabella looked blank. "About speaking properly?"

"Oh, yeah," Isabella said. She furrowed her brow, as if thinking very hard about something. "Who…are these…people?"

"That's more like it," he said, patting the little girl on the head. "Anyway, they're here to help us. They'll pick up your toys for you if you leave them on the floor. Speaking of which, why don't you go play?"

"I go play," Isabella said to herself. She started to go back upstairs, repeating "I go play" to herself over and over, and eventually turning it into a song.

"Annoying little thing, isn't she?" Orland asked us once she was gone. "Complete accident, too. But I guess you don't need to hear about that. Anyway, the swimming pool. I'll show-"

"Honey?" a woman's voice asked. "Who are you talking to?" Orland looked irritated again.

A woman who looked very much like Isabella walked toward us. She was also dressed in fancy clothes, and holding some sort of cocktail glass in her hand.

"Serena," Orland said. "These are our new housekeepers." He paused. "I know this isn't really important, but…what are your names?"

By then, I was so fed up with Orland's snooty attitude, and the fact that he called his own daughter, my half-sister, an annoying accident, that I didn't think it was worth hiding the truth anymore.

"My name is Arianna," I said.

"And I'm Tristan," Tristan said.

Serena's drink slipped out of her hand and fell onto the ground. Orland also froze.

"Oh my God," Serena whispered. Orland, however, recovered from the shock fairly quickly, and his expression turned into one of disdain.

"So," he said. "What's happening back in Alvarna? Let me guess, Leonel's come out of the closet by now?"

"Don't talk about Dad like that," Tristan said.

"I can talk however I want," he said. "This is my house, and you've disrupted it."

"Not as much as you've disrupted ours," I said. He raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"My, my," he said. "You really _are _Aria's children, aren't you? And for the record, _she_ disrupted a lot of things, including her own life."

"Drinking spiked punch at a party doesn't make her responsible," Tristan said. "It makes her a victim."

"Ah, yes," Orland continued. "But Leonel…he was the one who put that stuff in."

"Because you made him!" I protested.

"He had a choice," Orland said.

"You said you would stop harassing him if he did it!" Tristan shouted.

Orland sighed.

"Look," he said. "I never wanted kids, and especially not with Aria. I never liked her. Always acting so cheerful as a child, and then later…she acted like she knew everything, like she was _so_ smart! And everyone liked her, just because she could use a sword and make a few sarcastic remarks." He paused, frowning. "When I found out that I had slept with her, I was disgusted. After all, I had no feelings for her, except for feelings of pure hatred. And then, when I found out she was pregnant, I was repulsed! I acted like I didn't care, but in fact, I wanted to kick her so hard in that expanding waistline of hers that there wouldn't be any further problems with my life. Imagine…if I had decided to be a supportive father, then I probably wouldn't have been able to go to college and become the successful doctor I am today! I would probably be living on Kyle's filthy old farm!" He paused, and then smirked at us. "In short, I hate your mother, and wish you two would have somehow died before you were even born. That way, there would have been no chance that the mistakes of my past would come back to haunt me."

It was silent for quite some time, and I tried to hold back tears. I could see that Tristan was trembling with rage.

"You," he said. "Are sick."

"Not sick," Orland replied. "No, not sick at all. Just someone who wanted the best for himself." He sighed, as though he didn't have a care in the world. "I don't think there's anything more for you to hear at this point, and, quite frankly, I don't like looking at you. So, if you could leave, that would be wonderful."  
"Gladly," Tristan said. "Come on, Arianna." We turned around, and started to leave the house.

We walked down that long pathway again, and got into the carriage as quickly as we could. I broke down there.

"I can't believe it," I sobbed. "N-Nobody's ever been…s-so cruel to me…to us…"

"Don't worry about him," Tristan said. "Mom was right."

"About what?" I asked.

"When she said that Dad's more of a father to us," he said. "He's our father, not that jerk." He sighed, and smiled at me. "Come on, let's go home."

As Tristan left the carriage, I realized that he was right. Sure, Orland may have been our biological father, but Dad…I couldn't even think of everything he had done for us. He had taught us everything a father should, ranging from teaching me to play the piano, to taking care of us when we were sick, to the dreaded "talk". But most of all, he loved us like his own kids, not caring for a second that we weren't.

Finally, I realized how excited I was to be going home.


	26. Welcome Home

**Okay, everything's almost fixed.**

When Tristan told me that we would have to stop for the night, I felt like crying. I wanted more than anything to be home. I barely slept, and found myself restless when we were getting closer to our destination.

"Could you _please _not tap your foot against the back of the seat anymore?" Tristan asked. "I can feel it on the other side of the carriage." He had been trying to take a nap, but he couldn't due to my incessant fidgeting.

"When are we getting there?" I asked. He opened his eyes.

"Did you hear a damn thing I just said?" he asked.

"Sorry," I said, trying my best to keep my foot from tapping. "I'm just really excited that we're going home."

"You won't be," he grunted. Suddenly, the carriage stopped. "I guess we're here."

The carriage driver opened up the door, and smiled at us.

"Is here all right?" he asked. "We're in front of the school right now."

"Perfect," I replied. "Thank you." I got out of the carriage, and Tristan did the same. He paid the driver, and we started to walk away.

"Good thing we got here later in the day," Tristan said. "That way, everybody will be home."

I was about to burst from excitement, and when I saw our house, I thought I was going to cry. But then, I heard shouting.

"Listen!" I heard Aaron shouting. "You're lucky my mom and dad aren't here right now, you son of a bitch, otherwise you'd be _dead!_"

"Like he can't hear us!" I heard another voice shout. I gasped as I realized it was Dad.

"Please!" I heard Leann cry. "Think of who else can hear you!"

"Don't you walk away, Leonel!" Aaron yelled, as though he hadn't heard Leann. "You're the reason my sister's wasting away, and you know it!"

"That's bullshit!" Dad shot back. "I've done everything to try and help her!"

"Now look who's bullshitting!" Aaron replied. "Shouting at a pregnant woman does _not _help her at all! You're going to end up with a dead wife if you keep this up! And not to mention _two dead kids!_"

"Don't you dare!" Dad shouted. "Arianna left a note saying she was alive!"

"After _four months_ of being gone?" Aaron asked. "I doubt it. And you didn't even go to look for her! No, Tristan had to go and do it for you! Face it. You've lost the kid you tried so hard to save!"

"Fuck it!" Dad yelled. "I'm going outside!"

Tristan pulled me behind a tree, and indicated for me to crouch down and be quiet. Through the branches, I could see Dad, and I damn near cried. He didn't look like himself at all. He looked unhealthy, sad, and sleep-deprived.

The door opened again, and Gerard went running up to Dad.

"Why do you have to yell all the time?" he asked. "I was upstairs reading to Mom, and she cried when you started yelling."

"Leave me alone," Dad said. Gerard stayed put, and Dad got angry again. "I don't have time for this kind of crap!" Gerard looked like he was going to cry, but he turned around and went inside. Dad sighed, and looked at his feet.

I couldn't take it anymore. It really _was _my fault that everything was so screwed up! The least I could do was try and make it right. I ran out from behind the tree.

"Do you have time for me?" I asked. Dad's head snapped up, and once he saw me, his eyes widened, and he took a step back.

"I can't believe it," he said. "It…it can't…"

"Dad," I said, trying to hold back tears. "It's me." I heard Tristan come out from behind the tree, and Dad's eyes started tearing up. I knew that had to be enough for him to believe that he wasn't hallucinating.

"Oh my God," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. His voice suddenly got loud, but not in an angry way. "Oh my God! Arianna! It's you! It's really you!" He ran up to me, and hugged me tighter than ever.

"Dad…" I said, but I couldn't think of anything to say. I started to cry.

"My little girl," he said. He suddenly let go of me. "Everyone! Come outside! She's back!" As soon as he was finished saying that, he hugged me again.

I heard the sound of the door flying open, and everyone's excited cries. I felt people start to hug me, but I couldn't see through my tears.

This went on for quite some time, until suddenly, everyone was silent.

"What's happening?" a ragged voice asked. Dad let go of me, and I wiped my eyes, only to have them tear up again.

Right in front of me was a wheelchair, and a woman sitting in it. But I knew that there was no way that the woman I saw was Mom.

Mom had always been skinny. It was one of her amazing qualities. Every time she had a baby, she was always able to look like her normal self within a few months. But the woman in the wheelchair was emaciated. There was no other word for it. She was pale, and had the darkest circles under her eyes, and at first glance, I thought she hadn't eaten in a very long time. But that wasn't it. The bump that stuck out from her stomach was not a sign of being malnourished. She was pregnant.

"Mom?" I asked. The woman shot me a dirty look.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"You…you don't know?" I asked. "It's me, Mom. It's Arianna."

Mom brought her pale face into a frown.

"No you're not," she said disdainfully. "Arianna wasn't so tall, or so developed in her figure. She didn't dress as nicely as you do, and she wore an overcoat and a hat. She had a pissed off expression all the time, and didn't cry unless she was mad. Your expression is that of a happy young woman, not an angry child. And you're obviously not mad, so why are you crying? You're not my daughter. You're an impostor." She turned her wheelchair, and started to roll away. "You've all lost your fucking minds."

I was crying so hard, I was convulsing.

"Do something," Dad said. "Please."

I couldn't think of what to do, other than sing. But what to sing? The only song I knew that would make her know it was me was the Earthmate healing song. I started singing through my tears, so my voice sounded horrible, but it was enough to make Mom stop. When I finished the song, she slowly turned around, looking at me with narrowed eyes.

"Who…taught you that song?" she asked.

"D-Dad did," I stammered. "Mom, please…"

"Aria," a voice from behind me said. "Stop acting like your head is full of shit." I turned around, and saw Grandpa Kyle and Grandma Mana standing there, both looking angry.

"What do you want her to do?" Grandma Mana asked, obviously very close to tears. "Do you want her to do a headstand? Do you want her to go into the dungeons and fight unarmed? Because she'll do it…for you."

Mom's eyes suddenly widened, and she continued to look at me.

"It's you," she said finally. "My baby…" She started to cry, and I rushed over to her side to comfort her.

"It's all right," I said. "I'm here now."

She cried for a little while longer, until finally, she brought her thin arms around me.

"Arianna," she said hoarsely. "Welcome home."


	27. Missing Him

**Now we have the REAL new chapter.**

After a week or so of being back home, things started to return to the way they had been before I left. Except for the fact that I was happier, and that everyone was being really nice to me.

Mom also started getting better. In fact, the first thing she said after she realized that I was home was, "I'm hungry". Next was, "I'm thirsty", and then, "I'm tired", and then finally, "Dammit, kicking again". It was as though she had regained every emotion that she had lost since I ran away. She was even brave enough to try walking after three days, and she did so successfully. Yes, that was Mom. Always the daredevil.

She and Dad had also made up, and it didn't take long, either. They talked and laughed, exactly like before, and when everyone saw them kiss, it was as though they'd never seen it before. And miraculously, when Mom went to the clinic to see how the baby was doing, it was perfectly healthy. And Alicia predicted a boy. Zoe was pretty upset about that, since she wanted a baby sister, but everyone else was overjoyed.

Things were better than they had ever been.

Only thing was, I would think about Gunie from time to time. Of course, I had to tell Mom and Dad that I had been living with a family, but I hadn't told anyone that I had been in a relationship, and Tristan didn't talk about it. Besides…it was over. It needed to be over.

I started to play piano more often, too. I even started making some things up, and the more I played, the more stuff I came up with.

"I've never heard that one before," Dad said from behind me. I turned around.

"That's because I made it up," I said.

"It's pretty," he said, sitting down next to me on the piano bench. "And…this may seem a little random, but you've really grown up." I stopped playing.

"That's pretty random," I commented. He laughed, and I started playing again.

"I know," he said. "But when I see you sitting there, first of all, I think you look so much like your mom. But at the same time, I see that little baby that we came so close to losing." My hand hit the keys of the piano, resulting in a horrible sound that I could barely call a chord.

"L-Losing?!" I stammered. "What are you talking about? When were you going to lose me?"

"We already told you that," he said. "But then again, that was four months ago, and you were mad that we found your cigarettes and whiskey."

"Oh," I said. "Yeah. But seriously, what happened?!"

He took a deep breath.

"As you probably know," he said. "You and Tristan were a month and a half premature. But here's what you _don't _know. Tristan came out perfectly healthy, just short of seven pounds. But you were four pounds, blue, and close to death. Natalie, Ray, and your Grandma Dorothy were able to keep you alive, hooked up to a machine that just about breathed for you. We had to take you to the capital for surgery, and we felt like that would be a quick fix. But then, they either gave you too much painkiller, or you had an allergic reaction. Even though you could breathe on your own, we thought you weren't going to make it. But that song…we all started singing it, and you were healed." He turned his head to look at me. "Never underestimate the power of Earthmate magic."

"So that song fixed my lungs?" I asked. He nodded.

"Not only did it fix your lungs," he said. "But the rest of you, too. Within…I don't know, less than a month, you were the same size as Tristan. And we're fairly certain that your voice came from that song."

"My voice?" I asked.

"After you were healed," he said. "The first thing you did was cough. It was like you were getting rid of something. When you said your first word several months before Tristan did, we started to suspect something. And we were positive of what was going on when our two-and-a-half-year-old was able to sing perfectly on key. I remember, I dragged you over to the piano, and said, 'Arianna, can you sing this for Daddy?' And you did. Arianna, you sang almost _two octaves _at the age of two!"

"What?!" I asked. "When I was that little? You're exaggerating."

"Okay," he said. "One and a half." I laughed.

"You're such a liar," I said.

"He's not," Mom said from the doorway. "I remember it. I don't know much about music, but when a little girl sings like that, it's hard to forget." She laughed. "You were so embarrassed, and you communicated it very well. You put on that pouty face of yours, and said, 'Tristan laugh. He laugh me.'"

"Did he laugh at me?" I asked jokingly.

"Not at all," Dad replied. "He was chasing Lily around with his toy sword, and they came running into the room, but they stopped dead in their tracks when they heard you. In fact, everyone who walked by came into the room to hear you sing." He paused. "But it was as though you were in some sort of trance. By then, I was done testing your range, and playing some songs that you knew. But the minute you stopped, somehow you noticed that everyone was there watching you."

"And then," Mom said. "You threw one of the biggest fits I had ever seen. I tried telling you that everyone loved to hear you sing, but that didn't help at all."

"Stage fright," I said with a shrug.

For some reason, I remembered the first time I sang in front of Gunie. I almost laughed thinking of how I was so hesitant to do so. I also thought of the time in the chapel, when I didn't know that the person playing the organ and singing was him. I sighed inwardly, realizing how much I missed him.

"Arianna!" I heard a voice call. I snapped out of it, and saw Lily standing in the doorway.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"We need to talk," she said. "It's _really _important."

"Um…okay?" I replied. I was pretty confused. But then again, it was Lily. Things that were important to her usually involved hair and makeup.

She ran up to me, and started dragging me by the arm up to her room. When we were finally there, she slammed the door behind us, as though we were doing something secret.

"Good," she said. "The coast is clear."

_She probably doesn't even know what that means, _I thought.

"So," she said. "The important business. Sit." I sat down on her bed, and she paced around nervously.

"Well?" I asked. She sighed, but then turned to me.

"Are you pregnant?" she blurted out.

"What?!" I asked.

"I know," she replied. "I mean, I can _totally _understand if you don't want your parents to know, especially if it was like, a one time thing."

"What on earth would make you think that?" I asked, once I had recovered from the shock.

Lily snatched up a magazine that had been lying on her bed, and flipped it open to a page that I could see she had marked with a slip of paper.

"This article," she announced. "It's called, 'Is Your Best Friend Pregnant?' It gives some examples of behaviors and traits. I've picked some out that fit you. And they are…" She looked at the piece of paper that had been marking her page. "Five, six, eight…wait, what do these numbers mean? Oh, yeah…" She cleared her throat. "Number five says, 'is she happier?' Six says, 'is she crying more frequently?' Eight says, 'does she seem to be taking better care of herself in terms of appearance?' Ten says, 'does she stare off into space and sigh?' Eleven says, 'is she jumpier than usual?' And finally, number fifteen says, 'have her boobs gotten bigger?'" Lily shut the magazine dramatically. "I'd say yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and _yes!_"

"That's bullcrap," I said. "Lily, those all have perfectly reasonable explanations other than pregnancy. And I haven't been throwing up, gaining weight, or eating weird food!" I paused. "Wait, are my boobs really bigger now?"

"Denial," she said. "Those are all purely examples of denial. And there will really be no way for us to know until the time comes. And you were away for so long, too!" She sat down next to me. "So, who's the daddy?"

"Lily, come on!" I cried. "I'm _not _pregnant! I'm not into that at all, and he wasn't either." Lily's eyes got about as big as carriage wheels, and I knew I had made a mistake.

"_He?!_" she squealed.

"Forget I said that," I muttered, standing up, but Lily grabbed the back of my shirt and pulled me backwards, so I was forced to sit down again.  
"Is he cute?" she asked.

"No," I replied. "Because he doesn't exist."

"You're smiling," she said. "He _is _cute!" I figured there was no turning back from there.

"He is," I admitted. "He has this thick brown hair that goes down to his shoulders, and he sweeps it off to the side. And his eyes are this beautiful shade of blue, but unfortunately, he has to wear glasses. His face is gorgeous, too. When he smiles, I feel like I'm going to fly away. And then when he gets embarrassed, he blushes. It's the cutest damn thing I've ever seen! He's a little taller than I am, so it's perfect, because I don't have to go on tiptoes when we kiss. And he's skinny, but he's not scrawny at all. I got to see him with his shirt off one time, but I didn't like him back then, so I didn't fully appreciate it. And he's the sweetest guy, too. He has this sickness, the Sadness, it's called. It makes him feel sad more than most people, but he also has feelings that are deeper than those of anyone I've ever met. But he can also be funny. And it's weird, because he almost seems to intuit my thoughts. There was this on time, when he was only wearing a shirt and some boxers, and-"

"I think I've heard enough," Lily said. I stopped, feeling puzzled. She usually loved hearing about stuff like that.

"What?" I asked.

"In my humble opinion," she said. "You are absolutely in love with this guy!"

"Yeah," I said. "But…what am I thinking? He hates my guts now, because I had to leave. And he probably won't even consider me anymore, because Tristan gave him a hell of a time when he-"

"Tristan?" Lily asked. Her face lit up. "Stay put."

She ran out of the room, and brought Tristan with her seconds later.

"What the hell?" Tristan asked. "What's so important?" Lily grabbed a piece of paper and a pencil.

"Draw Arianna's boyfriend," she commanded.

"What?" Tristan asked.

"Do it!" she ordered. "She needs a keepsake, and I need a visual."

"Um…okay," Tristan said, taking the piece of paper and pencil. He sat down at Lily's desk, and started drawing.

"And don't try anything funny," I told him.

"I won't," he replied.

Lily and I waited in silence for a few minutes, until Tristan finally spoke.

"Done," he said, standing up. He handed me the drawing.

I immediately clasped my hand over my mouth. In just those few minutes, Tristan had done one hell of a drawing. It was perfect, down to his facial expression. And it was an expression I recognized: it was the little smile he always made when he looked at me.

My eyes started to fill with tears.

"It's not very good," Tristan said. Then, he noticed that I was crying. "Holy crap, what did I do?"

"Nothing," I said. "It's…really good. It's amazing!"

"Wow," Lily said. "He _is _cute! Good choice, Arianna!"

I left the room silently to go to my own room, looking at the drawing. I didn't care that it was stupid to walk and stare at something. And I sat in my room for a long time, not taking my eyes off it.

Suddenly, there was a knock at my bedroom door. I looked up at my clock. It was a little past six, but it was already dark. I rolled my eyes, thinking how stupid I was to stare at a drawing for over an hour.

"Come in," I said. Mom opened the door.

"There's someone here to see you," she said. "An older man. He says you stayed with him and his family while you were away, and he seems to have an urgent message for you."

_It has to be Raguna! _I thought. Without another word, I got up from my bed, and ran downstairs.

Sure enough, Raguna was standing at the bottom of the stairs.

"Arianna," he said. "You have to come back to Trampoli."

"What?" I asked.

"I've already talked to your grandfather," he said. "He's getting his fastest silver wolf ready for you to ride."

"Wait," I said. "Why do I have to go back? Did something happen?"

Raguna suddenly looked close to tears.

"It's Gunie," he replied. "He's been badly hurt, and we don't know whether or not he's going to make it through the night."

**A random list:**

**1. Well, fixing all that was a nightmare.**

**2. Does Lily's personality sound familiar?**

**3. OHSHITCLIFFHANGER!**


	28. Memories of Happier Times

Thoughts flooded my mind, but instead of keeping them to myself, I started to panic.

"What?!" I cried. "What happened to him?"

"There's really no time to explain," Raguna replied. "We need to go now…if you want to see him, that is."

"Of course I do," I replied. Tears stung my eyes, and Grandpa Kyle came running in.

"It's ready for you, Arianna," he said. "And take this, too." He tossed me a heavy coat, which I put on quickly.

Raguna and I rushed outside, and I noticed that it was snowing like crazy. But I didn't care. I needed to see Gunie. I got on the wolf's back, and untied it, and Raguna did the same with his.

"Make sure it follows me," he said. He nudged the wolf with the heel of his boot, and they took off. I did the same, and caught up to him.

The wolf ran so quickly that I could barely feel the rain.

"How long is the trip?" I eventually called out to Raguna, who was slightly ahead of me.

"Not that long," he replied. "About two hours."

"Two hours?" I asked. I thought I had heard him wrong because of the wind rushing in my ears.

"Yeah," he said. "Carriages are really slow. Riding on monsters, especially ones like these, takes about a quarter of the time that a carriage would. And we're already almost halfway through the trip."

We were quiet until I started seeing lights off in the distance. I knew we were getting close to Trampoli, since it was basically in the middle of nowhere.

"We're going to Erik and Lara's!" Raguna called out. "I'm going to speed up!"

"Okay!" I replied.

Raguna's wolf started running even faster, and mine followed suit. The wind was rushing through my ears so much that I thought they would explode, and my heart was pounding from the adrenaline. Suddenly, the world seemed to stop, and I nearly flew off my wolf's back.

I looked out in the darkness, letting my eyes adjust. I recognized that we were in front of Erik's farm. I started to run up to the door, but Raguna stopped me.

"I have to warn you," he said. "This could be really disturbing for you. Are you absolutely-?"

"Yes!" I replied. I shoved past him, and ran into the house.

As soon as I went inside, though, I wanted to run right back out. The screams were like nothing I had heard in my entire life. They were full of anguish, rage, and, from what I could hear, cries of "help", and "why". Tears started spilling from my eyes to the point that I could barely see anything. And the fact that I could hear other people crying didn't help at all.

Finally, I got to the point where my eyes could focus. I saw Mist, Leif, Leona, who I assumed had Raina in her arms, and Ella, and all of them were crying. I still didn't know what was happening, but those cries of agony didn't mean anything good.

The door opened again, and Raguna stepped inside. I saw him bite his lip at the sound of the screams, and the tears came to his eyes, too.

"What happened?" I asked him, since he seemed to be the only one who hadn't completely lost it from hearing Gunie in so much pain. "Wh-What happened to him?"

"He was attacked," Raguna replied. "Sebastian…he got away from that place they sent him to…and he came back here just so he could stab poor Gunie." He bit his lip again as a few more tears fell. "He was by himself…in the church, about where you two were asleep. And Sebastian came in…Gunie put up a fight, from what I heard. Maybe that's how Sebastian got him in the gut." I started to cry even harder. From what I knew, getting stabbed there was a very slow and excruciatingly painful way to die.

"So…h-he's really in…a lot of pain," I sobbed. Raguna nodded.

"Lara's performing surgery now," he said. "It's a wonder she could…she was crying so hard before. But maybe…maybe there's hope."

As if on cue, Lara came out from a room in the house.

"It went well," she said. "At least, as well as a surgery without anesthesia could go. I've…given him…some painkillers. Th-They should…start…working soon." She bit her lip and started to cry. "I'm…so sorry. I never would have dreamed-"

"It's not your fault," Raguna interrupted. "And don't you dare think it is, Lara. You all did the best you could with Sebastian. Sometimes…things just go wrong."

"You're right," she said. "But you can go in and see him now. Leona, I'll stay out here with Ella and Raina."

I looked over at the rest of the family. Ella was crying even harder than any of them.

"I-I…want to see my brother!" she sobbed. Lara, being the kind person she was, immediately rushed over to her.

"I know, dear," she said. "But the way he looks right now…it would probably scare you. It even scares me a little bit."

"I won't be scared," she said, wiping her tears. "I'll be brave! I'll be brave like him." Even though she said that, I could see that she was shaking. Once she said that, Lara started crying again.

"And…you _are _brave," she said, smiling through her tears. "You've already shown us that." She started to walk away, obviously because she was about to break down. Leona quickly followed her, dragging Ella by the arm.

"Should we…go now?" Raguna asked, sounding choked up again. Mist nodded, and despite the situation, I found it strange to see her crying.

_I guess she's not so absentminded, _I thought as we started walking. _But then again, thinking that someone you love so much might die can bring down the happiest of people._

"I…don't know what I'm going to do," Leif said.

"You were the first to see him," Raguna pointed out. "You were the one who…found him."

"I know," Leif replied. "But seeing him near dead…"

He didn't finish the sentence, because we came to the door to the room where Gunie was. Raguna pushed the door open, and I braced myself for anything that I might see. But within a few seconds, I realized that I hadn't braced myself well enough.

He was lying on a cot with a sheet just barely reaching his chest. His shirt was off, and he looked cold. I could tell from the goose bumps all over him that he was. It made him look like a study specimen, and I felt angry with Lara for not covering him. But then, I realized why. I saw that the sheet had a small red stain about where his stomach was, but the longer I looked at him, the bigger that stain got. He was bleeding from a not-yet-healed stab wound. As I walked closer, I could have sworn I saw him shaking, but when I wiped the tears from my eyes, I realized that he really was trembling. I had read somewhere that incisions sometimes made people shiver like that, but in that case, it was a wound.

I burst into tears immediately. I wanted to run over to him and throw my arms around him, but for all I knew, that would maybe hurt him more. Instead, I walked over to the side of his bed, took his hand, and held it. But it didn't feel like his hand. It felt cold and lifeless, like a corpse's hand. I reprimanded myself for such a grim thought, and began to stroke the back of his hand with my thumb.

Without thinking, I started to sing to him. The Earthmate healing song was the first that came to my mind, but when I realized that I was singing that song, I felt some hope.

_Maybe it can cure him! _I thought.

But once I finished the short song, nothing happened. He didn't open his eyes, or sit up, and the blood didn't fade away. The only sign I had that he was alive was his shaking hand.

I sat there for quite some time, not even thinking of looking at the clock. I just stared at him, as painful as it was to see. I didn't want to leave his side.

After a while, I saw his eyes open. I felt my face light up, thinking that maybe he had gotten better somehow. But I came crashing down once he started to scream. My hopes were so high from just his eyes opening, but all it turned out to be was a cry for more painkillers. He squeezed my hand so hard that I thought it would break, and then started to thrash around on his cot. Before I could start yelling for help, Lara came running in with a needle. She tried sticking it in his arm, but he was moving too much.

"I need you to hold him down!" she told me, raising her voice so she could be heard above Gunie's screams.

"Okay!" I replied. Gunie stopped screaming for a few seconds, breathing heavily.

"Take his arms," she instructed. "And pin them down. Stay away from his stomach, though."

"All right," I said.

I did as she said, holding his arms down. He was strong, that was for sure.

"Try talking to him," Lara said. "He's delirious from the pain, and the medication isn't helping, but maybe if he hears your voice…"

I looked at his anguished face, and tried my best not to cry. I tried to think of all the good times we had, the times where he made me laugh, or made me feel better about something, or showed he loved me. The things he had said to me during those times came flooding into my mind. Even the parts that were just bits and pieces made me feel better.

"_You have no shame."_

"_There is no way I'm having kids with you!"_

"…_I'm going to bring an asshole who doesn't want to play this stupid game."_

"_Having my entire family walk in on us sleeping together."_

"_You're cute."_

"_Do you need me to put pants on?"_

"_I love you."_

"_He won't hurt you anymore."_

That last one was almost unbearable to think of. The fact that Gunie had told me that Sebastian wouldn't hurt me anymore, and then to have Sebastian end up hurting him was horrifying.

So, I repeated the last two that I had heard in my head to Gunie.

"He won't hurt you anymore," I told him, right as Lara got the needle in his arm. "I love you." He slowly started to relax, until he was completely out again.

I sat down next to his bed again, and I noticed how much he had been sweating in the time he was conscious. I started to sweep his hair off to the side, combing it with my fingers so that it wasn't in his face. Finally, I kissed him on the forehead, and sat back down.

What seemed like a small amount of time passed, and I started to feel tired. I fought to stay awake, but sleep won in the end.

**I have no other little comments, other than "It's 2:30 a.m. I'm going to try and sneak downstairs so I can get that sandwich that I didn't finish at lunch today."**

**Yep, definitely sleep-deprived.  
**


	29. Goodbye

I stirred without opening my eyes, and realized that someone had put a blanket over me. My immediate thought was that maybe the previous night had been a horrible nightmare, so I opened my eyes to make sure. But no, I was on the floor of the room where Gunie was.

I sat up, and looked around the room. My eyes finally focused on Gunie's cot, but I saw that he wasn't in it. My heart started beating fast, and tears filled my eyes. I knew what it meant when a dying person got moved from their bed.

"No," I whispered. "No! _No!_" I collapsed, and started sobbing uncontrollably.

Gunie was dead.

I heard someone run into the room.

"Arianna?" Lara asked in a panicked tone. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"Wh-When did it happen?" I asked between sharp breaths. "When did…he…die?"

"Oh no!" Lara cried. "No, dear. He's not dead. In fact, he's doing better."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yes," she replied. "He's just in another room. I moved him to a stretcher so I could change his sheets."

"Oh," I said quietly, wiping my eyes. I felt stupid for assuming that he had died. And of course, reacting in such a dramatic way was pretty embarrassing.

"He can talk a little now," Lara continued. "He's still on some pretty heavy painkillers, but he can understand and speak. He slurs a little at first, but he's fin once he gets warmed up. He's already talked to his family, and I'm fairly certain he would want to talk to you. Would you like that?"

"Yes!" I cried. "Of course!"

"But I have to warn you," she said. "His internal bleeding hasn't completely stopped, and he might have a little blood come up. Not too much, but enough to make Leona pass out."

"I don't care," I replied. "I just want to see him."

"All right," Lara said. "I'll take you to him."

I got up, and followed Lara a short distance to another room. She opened the door, and I walked inside.

He really did look better. His skin was still pale from loss of blood, and his eyes were closed, but he looked more peaceful than he did the previous night. As I started to walk toward him, his eyes opened, and he turned his head to look at me.

"Gunie," I said, my eyes filling with tears. I started to run to his side.

"Don'…touch me," he said. His speech was slightly slurred from the pain medication, so I thought I had heard him wrong.

"What?" I asked, starting to reach for his hand, but he swatted it away.

"_Don' toush me!_" he shouted.

I was stunned. Those words had to be from the pain medication, not from him. But still, hearing him talk to me like that was too unexpected.

"W-Why?" I stammered.

"This…" he started to say. I could tell he was thinking hard to get his words out. "This…is…or fall."

"Or what?" I asked.

"Your fall!" he said, his voice sounding a little more intelligible.

I figured out what he was trying to say.

"My…fault?" I asked. My eyes started to fill with tears.

"Yeah," he replied. "Your fall tha'…I…it pay. _In pain!_" I could tell he was getting frustrated with the fact that he couldn't speak the way he wanted to.

"You think that?" I asked. He narrowed his eyes, in a way that made me think of how he was when I first met him.

"I…_know_ that," he said. "I _know _you may this happen."

"Why?" I asked.

"Becaud," he said. "Becaused you…! I save you! I saved your _life! I save-!_" He couldn't finish that sentence, because he gagged. My eyes widened in horror as he coughed, and blood came out of his mouth like fire being shot out of a staff.

"Gunie, please," I said, finally letting the tears out. "Don't upset yourself."

"_You're _upsetting me!" he shouted, becoming almost completely intelligible. "And if I didn't save your life, he wouldn't come to try and _kill me_!" He coughed up some more blood, and he started to cry.

"Calm down," I said, although I was very far from calm. "Please. You might hurt yourself "

"I'm not listening to you," he said through his tears. "No…you left me…when you said…you loved me." He paused. "You…don't love me…you left."

"I had to leave," I said. "My mom was really sick. She was going to die if I didn't go back."

"And now…now _I'm _dying!" he cried.

"I know," I said. "And I had no idea that anything would happen to you." I tried to take his hand, but he smacked it again.

"I told you not to touch me!" he shouted. "I _hate-!_" That time, he coughed up so much blood that I thought that he would pass out. "I…hate you."

Hearing that phrase was more than I could stand. He had never said that to me, and I was absolutely sure that it wasn't just the drugs talking that time. The look in his eyes was not one that someone with a clouded mind would have. It was a look that said "I hate you" as much as his words did.

"Gunie…" I said, my voice shaking. I didn't know what to say, other than his name. I had to restrain myself from reaching out to touch his face, brush his hair from his eyes, hold his hand, or anything.

"Don't say another word," he said. "You want to show me you love me?" I nodded. "Then get out of my room. Get out of town, and stay out. I never want to see you again." He looked away. "That's how you can show you care about me. By staying out of my life."

I thought about his words. One of the things we had believed in when it came to our relationship was respect, and genuine care for each other. If I decided to say no, then I would be throwing all that away. Even if he didn't love me back, I loved him with all my heart. So, even though I wanted nothing more than to be with him, I knew I had to respect his wishes, especially if he didn't end up living.

_It would be the least I could do, _I thought.

"All right," I said, forcing a smile. "I'll leave. I…won't bother you anymore." I slowly started to walk away, unable to look at him. "G-Goodbye."

I left the house without a word. I felt like a part of me had died, but then, I realized what a stupid thought that was. As soon as I looked around, I noticed that my silver wolf that had been tied to a fencepost outside was gone.

"Arianna!" someone called out to me. I looked up, and saw that Mom was running toward me. "I've got your wolf, and my own. I came here to get you. I didn't want you riding back home by yourself. Grandpa Kyle can't ride on monsters anymore, Aaron had to stay and help with the farming, and I'm the only other person who knows how to ride."

"Huh," I said quietly. I looked at the ground, and tried my best not to cry.

"How did everything end up?" she asked. "Is he all right?" I didn't say a word. "Arianna, what's wrong?"

It was then that I broke down. My shoulders started to shake, and before long, I felt like I couldn't breathe. Mom hugged me tightly, continuing to try and ask what had happened. That didn't help any, but it was nice that someone I loved so much loved me back.

"I…I want to…g-go home," I sobbed. "P-Please…"

"All right," Mom said. "Let's go home."

We walked together toward an old house that looked like it hadn't been inhabited for years. The wolves were tied up there to a mailbox that had "Kross" written on it, and I recognized it as Anette's handwriting.

As stupid as I thought it was, I knew I would never see that handwriting again. I felt a pang in my chest as I realized that I would probably never even see Trampoli again, unless something miraculous happened.

But I knew it wouldn't happen. As we started to ride away, I said goodbye to everything, from the beautiful scenery, to the kind people, to the memories that would never fade.

But most importantly, I said goodbye to Gunie for what I thought would be the last time.

**Hate me yet? You do? Good, that means I'm doing my job.**

**Anyway, I'm not going to say anything else, other than that this story will have two more chapters. Once they are finished, I'm going to cry like a baby. I won't know what to do with my life!  
**


	30. Promises Kept and Promises Made

"Arianna," Mom said to me. "Stop sitting by the window and come help me."

"It's my birthday," I said, smiling at her. "I can choose whether I want cake or not."

"First of all," Mom said. "Your birthday's not for a few days, so you can't officially make decisions for yourself. Second, if Tristan doesn't get cake, he's going to kill you for cutting off his food supply." I laughed.

"All right," I said, getting up from my chair. "I guess I have to learn how to cook at some point in my life."

"I should say so," Mom said. "I was married at your age."

My face fell. For some reason, whenever someone used a sentence involving me and marriage, I started thinking of those few months, just a little over a year ago, when Gunie loved me.

In the time after I had left Trampoli, I moped constantly. But then, I started to move on with my life again, and barely thought of him. When Mom mentioned me possibly being married, though, I had one of my moments when I thought of him.

"Arianna," Mom said, snapping her fingers in front of my face.

"Huh?" I asked. I looked at her, and saw that she was smiling at me.

"You're thinking of him again, aren't you?" she asked. I nodded. "Why don't you give yourself a birthday present? Go back to Trampoli. If he's mad, he's mad. But if he is, then don't think of him anymore, unless you think of the word 'jackass'."

"I can't," I said. "It would be breaking a promise."

Mom sighed.

"You know," she said. "One of the things I learned about love is that you have to have to grow up in order to experience it. Not physically, I mean, but mentally and emotionally. And you've been dedicated, Arianna, more dedicated than anyone I've ever seen. That's real emotional strength. But now, you have to face your fears. You have to go and see him again. You've shown that you love and respect him. Now it's time for him to do the same for you."

I thought for a second.

"All right," I said. "I'll go back."

Just as I said that, Dad came down the stairs with my newest sibling, baby Liam, in his arms.

"I'm sensing that a meaningful conversation has taken place," he said.

"She's going back to Trampoli," Mom said.

"Thank God," Dad said. "You've needed to go back for over a year now."

"I can see you all really want to get rid of me," I said with a laugh. However, I was masking my real feelings with sarcasm. I was about to burst from excitement.

The day after my birthday, I made the trip. I told Mom that I'd only be gone about five hours. I had no trouble getting up in the morning, and I rode there on Grandpa Kyle's fastest wolf. After all, I had learned my lesson when it came to carriages. The trip was unbelievably fast, and I got to Trampoli fairly quickly.

But when I rode through town, it seemed unbelievably quiet. It was about noon, and it was a Holiday. I had no idea what was going on until noticed something on the ground in front of the church. I stopped, and jumped off my wolf's back.

It didn't take me long to figure out what the white grains on the ground were.

"Rice," I said quietly. "From a wedding."

My mind, as usual, jumped to the worst case scenario.

_Gunie got married, _I thought, almost feeling my heart sink. _He probably went right back to Amy…became his old self again._

"It's Hugh and Helena," a voice behind me said. "Who else would you have expected?"

I jumped. That voice…it sounded familiar, but at the same time, I felt as though I hadn't ever heard it. But I knew who it was. It had to be…

"Gunie?" I asked, turning around. But once I had fully turned, I didn't need an answer.

He had gotten taller, but not too tall. His glasses were the same, and his hair was as wild as ever. Aside from his height, he hadn't changed a bit. I tried my best not to start crying, or run up to him and hug him.

"You look different, Arianna," he said.

"Thanks," I said. "So do you." I paused. "So…Hugh and Helena finally got married."

"Yeah," he said. "Just yesterday. But no birds have come along and eaten the rice or anything."

"How's your family?" I asked.

"They're great," he replied. "Grandma and Grandpa are fine, same with Mom and Dad. Ella grew about a foot, and Raina can talk a little."

"I won't believe it until I see it," I said with a little laugh. "And what about everyone else?"

"Fine," he replied. "Everyone seems to be doing well. I mean, except Erik and Lara and their family. They haven't quite gotten over Sebastian's death." I jumped a little upon hearing the news.

"Oh," I said, regaining my composure.

I was more than a little disappointed. When I was so excited about seeing Gunie for the first time in over a year, he only wanted to make small talk.

"Well," I said, turning around again. "I should probably go. I-"

"Arianna," he said, cutting me off. "Before you go…can I just show you one thing?"

"Sure," I replied, stopping, then turning to face him.

He wordlessly began to pull his sleeve back, and I recognized the gesture right away. I braced myself, making sure to be ready to close my eyes upon the horrible sights of the cuts on his arms. But once I looked, I couldn't believe my eyes. It was as though it was someone else's arm.

"Oh my God," I said. "Gunie, that's…amazing. All the scars are gone! You should be really proud."

"A promise is a promise," he said, looking at me. "But…not all of the scars are gone. Look."

He pulled the sleeve back a little bit more, and I saw a little bit of scar tissue. But what made me gasp was which scar had remained.

"I guess it's missing a few letters," he said. "That's a lesson I learned, I guess. Never carve a girl's name into your skin unless you're absolutely sure of what her name is." He rubbed his thumb across the three letters: R, I, and A.

I didn't say anything for a few seconds.

"I wish I could have healed you," I said quietly. "But you didn't love me at the time, so-"

"Wait, what?" he asked. "What do you mean?"

"It's what the song says," I said. "The healing song. In our language, anyway. There are so many translations, but this one, my Grandpa Kyle says, is the most accurate. I like it more than others, too, because it's in an older dialect. And the words to this version fit with the original syllables, so it's easier to sing."

"Can you…sing it?" he asked hesitantly.

I cleared my throat. I wasn't properly warmed up, but I went for it anyway.

"_If I must_

_Say farewell_

_Remember_

_Our love_

_If I shan't_

_Heal thee now_

_Farewell_

_Song healeth heart_

_Song healeth mind_

_Song healeth love_

_And should this fail to_

_Restore thy life_

_Restore thy love_

_It mean-_

_Est thou_

_Dost not_

_Love me_

_Why? I do not know_

_But let it be so_

_Thy love_

_For me_

_Doth shine_

_Through dark_

_Thus I_

_Can bring_

_Thee back_

_From death_

_Our love_

_Doth live._"

I realized, right after I had finished singing, that I had somehow ended up very close to him. Or maybe he had moved closer to me.

"That was beautiful," he said.

"Thank you," I replied. He started to wrap his arms around me, and I returned the gesture.

"Are you all right with-" he started to ask.

"Yes," I replied. "In fact, I'd…forgotten how warm you are." He kissed my forehead, and I looked up at him.

Before I knew it, he had moved his kisses down to my mouth, and they went from shy to just the opposite.

"I missed that," I said when I could tell he'd had enough for the moment.

"I did too," he replied, hugging me again.

"I'm sorry," I said. "For not coming back, I mean."

"No," he said. "You kept a promise. I was the dumbass in this situation, not you."

"Who cares?" I asked. "It doesn't matter anymore."

"Right," he said. "How old are you now?"

"Eighteen," I replied. I remembered how much I loved teasing him. "But that doesn't mean we're doing anything you have in mind right now."  
"No!" he cried, his cheeks turning red. "I wasn't-!" I cut him off by kissing him.

"You haven't changed a bit," I told him.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you too," I said.

I heard a voice off in the distance, and as the source of the sound came closer, I realized who it was.

"Raina!" Ella whined. "No running away!" The sound was accompanied by a baby's laughter. I turned around, and saw Ella, chasing after a little girl with wavy blonde hair, who I assumed was Raina. But the two of them stopped in their tracks when they saw me.

"Arianna!" Ella cried. She started to run up to me, and I gave her a hug.

"You really have gotten tall!" I exclaimed, laughing a little.

"I'm so glad you're back!" she squealed. "There's so much that's happened! I have to tell you everything!"

"I'd love to hear," I said.

"Raina!" Gunie cried. I realized that we had left a baby that was barely over a year old to her own devices. He ran over to her, and picked her up.

"She's gorgeous," I said.

"She's a pain in the you-know-what," Gunie replied with a laugh. He turned to look at Raina. "Hey, you don't remember her, but this is Arianna. She knew you when you were a little baby."

"Beebee?" Raina asked. She looked up at me, and pointed a chubby finger to herself. "Waina."

"I know," I replied. "And you are _so _cute!" Raina turned, and put her face on Gunie.

"She's a little shy," Gunie said, putting her down.

"Hey," Ella said to her. "Let's go play some more. I think Gunie and Arianna need some alone time." Raina, having heard the word "play", took off running again, and Ella followed her.

I looked at Gunie.

"Do we need alone time?" I asked jokingly. He hugged me again.

"Yes," he replied. "I need the most I can get before you go back." He paused, kissing me on the forehead. "Unless you want to stay."

"I can't," I replied. "I have to be with my family. But I'll visit as much as I can."

"All right," he said. "I understand."

"And I'll write letters," I said. "I'll do whatever I can to keep in touch."

"What if I told you I wanted to marry you?" he asked.

"Well," I said. "I suppose that would just take even more commitment. To be in a long distance relationship, I mean."

"Arianna," he said. "I'm serious."

"You're crazy," I said, smiling.

"Maybe," he said. "But…seeing you has rekindled every single feeling I had for you back then. And…we wouldn't want this to go to waste." He rummaged through his pocket, and pulled out a silver ring with a diamond. My eyes widened. "I made this the day I realized what a stupid choice I had made, hoping that someday, you would come back, and I could give this to you. So…will you marry me?"

I smiled, deciding to have a little fun with him.

"Get down on one knee," I said. "And then, we can do this right." He caught on to my joke, and did as I said.

"Arianna, my love!" he cried dramatically. "You are more radiant than the sun in the heavens! Will you be my bride, so that we may be together forever?" I laughed, playing along.

"Yes, my love!" I replied. "I wouldn't ask for anything else in the world, than to be with you for the rest of my life!" He rose up from his knees, and kissed me.

"Was that better?" he asked.

"Much better," I told him. "That was an award-winning performance. And we'll be an award-winning couple."

"I love you," he said.

"I love you, too," I replied. "Although my parents are going to think I've lost my mind."

"Same," he said. "But then again, I guess I have."

"Very true," I said.

We stood there in the middle of the road for what seemed like an eternity, but at the same time, not long enough. When the time came for me to go home, we said our goodbyes, promising to be faithful, even though we'd be apart.

As I rode back home, I found myself both terrified and elated, both caused by thinking of what would happen in the future. But then again, new adventures were a key part of being in love.

And I couldn't wait for them.

**You all knew it would happen! Merry Christmas! If you don't celebrate Christmas, then you get a free present for no apparent reason. XD  
**

**Don't worry, now! There's a short epilogue coming up. But after that, sadly, it will be over.  
**

**And I wrote those lyrics. No wonder they're crappy. But I've written out the music, and it's a lovely melody, if I do say so myself. I have yet to find a program that will help me get the sheet music into a MIDI or mp3. Maybe if I get that Macbook for Christmas...**


	31. Epilogue

It's been quite some time since that day, over thirteen years. Tonight is the Night of Holies, but more importantly, our anniversary.

Yeah, my parents freaked out at first, thinking I had gone crazy, and Gunie's family thought he was joking. But everything turned out all right. We got married, and we have three kids, soon to be four.

Instead of everyone going out on individual dates, Mist decided that a party at our house would be more fun. And she made it very clear to invite everyone, even my side of the family. She's gotten battier with age, that's for damn sure.

We spent the afternoon preparing for the party, but now, everyone's in his or her room, getting dressed and ready to socialize.

"Dammit," I mutter as I try to put my dress on.

"What is it?" Gunie asks.

"I bought this dress a month ago," I tell him. "And now it doesn't fit!"

"Well," he says. "All babies do during the last month or so is put on weight."

"Lucky thirteen," I say, rolling my eyes. "Now, get off your ass and help me get this dress over my belly." He laughs.

"All right," he says. He gets up from our bed, where he's been sitting, and starts to mess with the back of the dress.

"Shouldn't you be pulling it down in the front?" I ask.

"Yeah," he replies. "But I'm trying to find the zipper. You know, for later."

"You perv!" I cry, mock horror in my voice. I turn to face him, and he kisses me.

"You forgot to unzip it all the way," he tells me. "That's why it's not fitting right."

"Oh," I say, feeling stupid. "So now can we try to get me dressed?" Without a word, he pulls the bottom of the dress down. I feel even more stupid.

He goes around to the back of the dress, and zips me up.

"You should wear this color more often," he says. "It goes well with your eyes." For some reason, though, his voice sounds sad.

"You seem a little off," I comment. He sits back down on the bed.

"It's just…this is the Night of Holies," he says. "Even though it's a town holiday, I don't really think it's appropriate to be celebrating. I mean, all those years ago, Sebastian hurt you, and-" I put a finger over his mouth, and he stops talking.

"You know," I say. "I don't think of it that way. In fact, that memory's almost gone."

"It is?" he asks. "Then how do you think of it?"

"I think of it as the night you showed me you loved me," I tell him. I kiss him on the cheek after that.

"Really?" he asks, turning his head to face me.

"Absolutely," I say, kissing him again. "I didn't think it was worth moping about. It happened a long time ago, and I've almost forgotten about it." I pause, and smile at him. "In fact, we probably wouldn't be married now if that hadn't happened." This time, he returns the kiss.

"I love you," he says.

"Also," I say. "If it wasn't for the Night of Holies five years ago, we wouldn't have-"

The door bursts open, and our four-year-old, Hayley, walks into the room.

"Speak of the devil," Gunie mutters.

"Mommy!" she cries out. "Daddy! Aria says if you don't get your asses downstairs, she's going to come up here and break up the party!"

I laugh, because Hayley was obviously repeating exactly what Mom said, second, because Mom was still insisting that our kids don't call her Grandma, and third, because she most likely had no idea what Mom had meant by "party".

"Bad language, Hayley," Gunie says, walking over to pick her up.

"But that's what Aria said," Hayley tells him.

"All right," I say. "We'll follow you."

Downstairs, I'm horrified to see that almost everyone in town is crowded into the main level of the house. But I smile when I look at the kids all playing together.

Caleb, our oldest, is ten years old, and exactly like his father in terms of appearance, except for his eyes. His thick brown hair is always long and messy, but his eyes are the same color as mine. His personality's the same as Gunie's, or at least it's the same as Gunie's personality when I first met him. He's quiet, reserved, musical, and smart as hell. He's always got a book with him, and if he gets upset, he runs straight for the church to play the organ, or into his room where his piano is. He always tries to act indifferent about things, and Gunie and I joke that he's already a teenager. Whenever we ask how anything is, it's always "fine", or "good", or "okay". But when I tell him to give me a hug, or call him by a pet name in public, his cheeks flush bright red. Just like his daddy.

Audrey is more like me when I was a child. She's eight years old, but we always say she's going to get wrinkles from her constant expression of being in deep thought. For the most part, she's grown out of her temper tantrums, but not completely. Like me, she learned to read very early on, and always seems to be angry about something. Appearance-wise, she looks like the way I did, except she has human ears.

Hayley is the "outcast" of our kids. She's energetic, happy all the time, and very affectionate. Aside from her red hair and blue eyes, we would say she wasn't our kid. And of course, the fact that she can sing like no kid I'd ever heard. We've decided that she's like Mist when she's calm, like me when she's doing anything music-related, and like Ella when she's excited. She smiles at everyone she meets, but more than anything, she's a daddy's girl. When she gets upset, which is incredibly rare, she runs straight for Gunie.

Hugh and Helena have been happily married, and their two kids, Georgiana and Arthur, were trying to coax Caleb and Audrey out from the corner, where they were reading. Most of the other kids were younger, and with more interesting stories.

The seven-year-old twins, Oliver and Ava, are my niece and nephew, and their story is probably the most interesting. Lolita, who had a huge crush on Gunie before I fell in love with him, was not too happy when she found out about us getting married. She still came to the wedding, though. Tristan had also been looking for love, and when the two of them sat down at a table while everyone else was dancing, something happened between them. Eventually, they got married and brought little Oliver and Ava into the world. Every day, I think to myself how unfortunate the two of them are. Twin plus twin equals twins, I guess.

That was a joke.

Isidore and Poppy also got married, and they have a three-year-old, Nicholas. Their wedding was eight years ago, and Poppy says that it took Isidore two years to even get undressed in front of her. Since Isidore isn't terrified of girls anymore, he always laughs. He's turned out just fine, even if he did have a few rough years after Sebastian died.

Finally, there's Leah, the two-year-old daughter of Ella and Juniper. Yes, Ella and Juniper got married. They're also expecting another baby that will probably be born a few months after ours.

Everyone else grew up well. Raina is probably the most gorgeous sixteen-year-old I've ever seen, even though she looks like she's about twenty. Gerard has grown up to be gorgeous, too, although if I told him that, he'd probably smack me. But he is a very pretty boy, or rather, man. Guys who are twenty-seven don't usually like to be called boys. Zoe quickly grew out of her bratty princess phase. Of course, she's twenty-two now, and also very pretty. And Liam, now almost fifteen, is going through his awkward stage. He'll grow out of it, I'm sure.

"Careful!" Gunie suddenly cries. He pulls me back, and I notice that someone left a toy watering can on the stairs.

"What would I do without you?" I ask.

"Arianna!" someone cries out. I look around, and see that Gerard, Zoe, and Liam have come running up to me.

"Hi guys," I say, smiling at them. It's really been a long time since I've seen them. "Liam, you look like you've grown a foot. I thought I told you not to do that anymore!"

"I remember that," Liam says. I furrow my brow, trying to remember. "You know, after you got married? You told me not to get any taller, and when you came back to visit, I had gotten bigger."

"I remember that too!" Zoe cries. "And when she said, 'Oh, look how big you've gotten!' you started crying and apologizing!"

Hayley's run off to join the other kids, and I hear a sort of disturbance.

"I'll smack you upside the head!" Ava shouts. She's very aggressive, just the opposite of Oliver. But it's nothing harmful.

"Well, I'll pull your arms off!" Oliver replies, trying to be tough.

"I'll punch your lights out!" Arthur joins in.

"I'll kill _all _of you!" Hayley finally declares.

"Okay," Gunie says, rushing over to reprimand Hayley. I can see he's smiling, though. Hayley wouldn't hurt a fly.

I go over to the couch and sit down next to Ella.

"How's that baby doing?" she asks with a laugh.

"Inactive, at the moment," I say. "What about you?"

"Oh, she's wonderful!" Ella replies. "We've already thought of a name, too! But I'm not telling anyone what it is just yet. I take it you still don't know what you're going to call baby number four?"

"No," I say with a nervous laugh. "And I guess that's exactly why. You run out of ideas, I guess."

"Maybe you'll take a look at him and decide," she says.

Caleb comes over to me, and sits on the couch with his book.

"I'm just coming over here," he explains. "Because it's too noisy over there."

"Well, hello to you too," I say. "Why don't you go play with the other kids? It looks like they're having a lot of fun."

"Their games are stupid," he replies, turning a page.

I hear a scream, and look up quickly. It looks as though Nicholas bit Leah and made her cry, and my guess is that Leah took a whack at him for biting her. Ella gets up, and goes to make sure the kids are okay.

"Shut up!" Audrey shouts. "I can't take all this frigging noise!"

"Audrey!" Gunie cries. From what I can tell, he's just finished reprimanding Hayley, and now he has to go tell Audrey to behave.

I try to get up from the couch, because I feel so bad that Gunie has to take care of the kids while I sit around. But I have some trouble, due to the huge belly. When I finally _do _get up, though, I feel something strange, that I know I've felt before. But then, it dawns on me. _Three times _before.

I don't know what to do. My water's never broken in public before, and especially not in front of a bunch of kids. But my mind quickly settles, thanks to Helena. She's taken over Lara's position of being Trampoli's nurse, and she told Gunie and me that if something like this should happen, we needed a code word or phrase. So, I shout ours across the room.

"Oh, Gunie!" I call. "I think one of the buffamoos got loose from the barn!" Gunie looks perplexed, but Helena grabs him by the arm and drags him over to me. We quickly leave the house and step outside into the snow.

"You were supposed to remember that," I say to Gunie.

"Remember what?" he asks. "And you really shouldn't try to catch a buffamoo when you're-"

"That's the code for 'my water just broke'!" I tell him.

"It did?" he asks. I nod. "Oh my God, seriously?!"

"We need to get over to the clinic," Helena says. "Gunie, make sure Arianna doesn't slip and fall in this icy weather. I'm going to let Ella and the others know what's going on." She runs off toward the house, and Gunie and I start walking.

"Are you cold?" I ask.

"Yes," he replies. "But that's not important right now. Let's go."

Once we get over to the clinic, the next several hours seem like a blur. I imagine it's because of all the painkillers. But things become clear again when Helena tells me that soon, I'll get to hold my new baby boy.

Gunie's pacing around, and I can tell he's thinking.

"We still don't have a name," he says finally.

Helena comes into the room, and my heart starts pounding as I see that she has a bundle of blankets in her arms.

"Why don't you take a look at him?" Helena asks, walking over to us. She hands me the baby, and Gunie rushes over to see him.

The baby looks a lot like Caleb did when he was first born, but once he opens his eyes, I can see that they're the same, beautiful shade of blue as Gunie's.

"I've got a name," I say, still looking at the baby. "And it's the same name as someone he looks very much like."

"You…you want to name him after me?" Gunie asks, his face turning red.

"Only if you want to," I tell him.

I hear some noise by the door, and I look up to see that almost our entire family is standing by the door.

"Well," I say to Gunie. "We'd better decide quick, because everyone's going to want a name."

"All right," Gunie says. "Let's keep our first and only idea."

"Ladies and gentlemen!" I say to the crowd by the door. "I give you Raguna the third!" There's a burst of applause, and Gunie and I can't help but beam like idiots.

As people come by to see our newest family member, I think about everything that's happened to me. To think that once, I was an angry young girl who couldn't see the beauty in anything…it was almost impossibly to imagine. But if I hadn't run away from the people I loved, I wouldn't have found more.

When I got engaged to Gunie, I thought that it would be just another adventure. But it wasn't. It was the start of an ongoing adventure that I know now is life.

And it's the greatest adventure I could ever ask for.

_The End._

**Not too pleased with that ending, but...the story had to end!!! I struggled like hell with this chapter, too.  
**

**Well, that's that. Check out the new poll on my profile if you want anything story-related from me.  
**


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